Ponderfool

I moved!

2007-02-10T01:43:00.000+08:00

to longandponderous.wordpress.com.

I'll continue to post entries there starting today (well, I started earlier really) so it's probably best to read this bit first and then just work your way to the more recent posts from there. Content is going to be the same, I imported everything from here. Only the template will be different. Too bad too, I was really fond of this one. But there's a moon in the next one, it's really good. Anyway, it's impossible to post anything from work and I'm there most of the time and I found the oppression unbearable. And talking to the IT people to sort it out is too much of a hassle. So yeah. See you guys on the other side.

Banned

2007-02-09T09:30:00.000+08:00

I can't post entries at work! I need to upgrade the browser but the computer won't let me because access is restricted. Hmph they've completely child-proofed it. I can't even click on the time/date in the System Tray to see the calendar because I'm not authorized.

Anyway I'll work around it. In the meantime, posts will be irregular (more than usual, that is) till I sort it all out. I'll be rather busy this weekend anyway. People celebrating birthdays, people leaving the country, that sort of thing.

Plus I've got to buy toiletries, that's always a special I'm-all-grown-up event for me.

Happy hearts month

2007-02-07T22:27:00.000+08:00

Italian archaeologists found skeletal remains of this couple in Mantua, somewhere in northern Italy. Nothing has been confirmed yet but they may have been buried 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. They were holding each other when they died. How romantic. Look how their skulls form a heart (sort of) too!

I can't avoid hydrogenated fat

2007-02-06T22:23:00.000+08:00

Because my body is in a life-long love affair with it. It's in the foods I enjoy the most and I have said time and time again that I will never change my lovely eating habits. Nevah! If there's Coke, chocolates, cookies and cheese balls around, you can be sure I'll be eating those for dinner until supplies run out. And even at this age, I'm pretty sure I'll "fail" that marshmallow test as well. I will find a way of getting that second marshmallow and this confidence I ooze comes from years of experience.

Anyway I've just realised exactly HOW bad hydrogenated fats (and partially hydrogenated fats; yes, they're bad too and not just partially). I bought some chocolate candies from the local convenience store down the road and was prancing back to the office, enthusiastically popping them candies in my mouth one after the other, when I decided to look at the ingredients. I've decided I'm going to be a pretend health freak temporarily. The candies were screaming HYDROGENATED FAT. Hello, Cardiac Arrest. I nearly choked on my treats.

From what I've read, and I tend to read in a blind panic when hypochondria kicks in, hydrogenated fat (also called trans fatty acids) is created by injecting hydrogen in liquid cooking oils to make them either semi or all solid. Like a stick of butter. That's pretty much what it'll look like inside you. Hydrogenated fat has no nutritional value AT ALL, it just makes packaged "goods" last longer. Like Oreo cookies (why GOd why??). Like breakfast cereal, a, if not the ultimate, chris staple. HF puts the crisp in those potato chips. Yummy. Moreover, it's not like saturated fat that just raises bad cholesterol, it also lowers good cholesterol, the type that clears arteries. How horrible is that? Doubly.

Food labeling is still a bit of an issue as some restaurants (cough Mcdonald's) refuse to provide their consumers a complete list of ingredients that go into their food while also refusing to use healthier oil in the preparation of it. WTF right? No law has been passed regarding that yet. And while some companies do label their goods (oh how noble of them), they do so in a misleading manner. For instance, let's say a product's label says it's got 0 trans fat in it. Good right? I'm not sure what our lovely country has to say about this health issue but according to some laws (US), companies are allowed to label their products 0 trans fat if a serving of the product contains only half a gram of it or less. So yeah, chances are you're still going to be a fatty.

Where does that leave us? Briefly, nowhere healthy: We're eating ourselves to death. But I think if we just eat an apple every day, we're sorted.

I've been writing about health stuff so much lately that I've caught the attention of some health blogging community site and they've asked me to join as a contributor. They urge me to join but only if I deem my writing appropriate for the topic of health. Hehe I don't know what that means. It could very well just be some stupid spam thing but, boy, getting that email really made my day. Haha I'm still chuckling about it now. And I ate the bad candies after all, and it made me feel both good and bad about myself. It was an unusual experience, I may have to experiment some more before reaching a well-founded conclusion.

Megatron spoke to me

2007-02-06T09:31:00.000+08:00

In a dream last night. It was so vivid. Well he spoke to me and my friends but they were busy giggling and groping each other. People can't get a room even in my dreams, go figure. Anyway my friends, my sister and I were at a beach resort and we were walking along the shore when the Autobots arrived from the sky. They were suddenly all over the place. I wasn't scared mainly because they didn't seem to know we were even there. They were going on about business, looking at everything suspiciously, poking under rocks and inside bathroom stalls, that sort of thing. It all happened in a matter of a few minutes and they were moving collectively in one direction till they disappeared over a sandy hill. My friends and I carried on like nothing happened, still walking along the shore and picking up rocks. We were on our way back to our room when the Decepticons landed. They didn't behave like Optimus and his crew. They were spread out and seemed to be looking for something on the ground. Megatron glanced our way and I stood stock still and locked eyes with him, as if hypnotized. He spoke in his big robotic voice and asked us if we had seen any other robots around. I was absolutely petrified, his piercing gaze made me feel as if he could read my mind so I said there were some here a little while ago but they left very quickly and I don't know where they went.

I remember being rather annoyed with Megatron watching The Transformers when I was kid. But in my dream and up close, he was majestic and impressive. The moonlight was glinting off his shiny metal body and he held himself in a very stately way, much like a commander would I suppose. He was certainly more than met the eye. Haha I think I have a crush on a robot. Yesterday it was Pete Doherty and now this.

I can't wait for the movie to come out and I don't care if it's directed by awful Michael Bay (he was responsible for Pearl Harbor).

Pickpocketee

2007-02-04T17:31:00.000+08:00

My wallet was stolen this afternoon on my way home. I didn't take a cab because I didn't want to get held up. Instead I got pickpocketed. Hehe how unfortunate. Manila manila manila.

Dental date #1

2007-02-02T12:15:00.000+08:00

I dreaded going to the dentist when I was younger and my mom used to tell me and my sisters that we were going to the carnival but always neglected to mention that we were stopping by the dentist's office first. The dread never really went away as I got older and I put off scheduling dental checkups for as long as I could, and only until my parents' nagging got to be too much. Recently, though it's been tricky to squeeze checkups into my disorganised schedule, I've begun to really enjoy getting my tooth cleaned and just generally having someone fuss over me for an hour or so. I always feel like fasting after cleaning because I didn't want to get my teeth dirty.

Today I went to see my dentist and had the first session in what I project to be a year-long series. It's not as expensive as I initially estimated so I will probably see her more than once a month. Here's to healthier teeth in 2007. How strange that I'm growing more and more obsessed with my health lately. What is the world coming to? Ack the climate changes are wreaking havoc on behavioral patterns of living creatures! Crazy? Maybe so. But I'm still going to look into it.

Stealth health

2007-01-31T14:40:00.000+08:00

Ugh Broncho Girl is still at it. This is her second week of coming to work ill. She's coughing on her keyboard her monitor her seatmates. This is so wrong. Yesterday she sat with us while eating. I made sure I sat as far away from her as possible. She offered some of what she was eating because she's such a nice person and I almost blurted out, I don't want any of YOUR germs on my food and certainly not in my system! Instead I shook my head and politely declined. Just earlier, she was complaining to her seatmate that she was getting tired of the numerous trips to the bathroom to spit out the phlegm she was coughing up. GROSS! Just fucking stay home already!!

Anyway, moving on to MY health: I went to see the heart doctor this morning. I was reading up on persistent chest pains yesterday and the research led to articles on various heart conditions. Anyway Mr Doctor said what I thought all along. Lack of exercise! Apart from that, I'm hale and hearty. Woohoo where's my medical diploma?

So maybe if I go around saying BG's condition is contagious and the office's poor ventilation could easily turn it into an epidemic, maybe she'll be shamed into staying home and the others won't be so touchy-feely with her. Don't they understand that she's unclean and that SHE'S BREATHING HARMFUL GERMS OUT INTO THE WORKPLACE? Shun her! Shun her!

I could be mass hysteria all by myself.

Hypochondria in overdrive

2007-01-30T12:33:00.000+08:00

Help! I'm surrounded by disease. Several people have been sniffling and coughing all over the workplace, it's driving me insane. I don't know what to do. I hold my breath when I walk past someone who's being particularly gross but I can't keep holding my breath! They're everywhere. Coughing and coughing and clearing their throats wetly and sniffling and sneezing and releasing their germs out into the world. Ugh. Yes, I'm really particular about being around people who sound ill. I can't stand hearing wet sounding coughs and runny noses being blown. Why can't they just call in sick? They're contaminating the rest of us who aren't. Ugh. So inconsiderate. Maybe I should call in sick. I'm sick of this shit.

One of our officemates has been diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia. I overheard her talking about having come back from the doctor's. I'm a mild hypochondriac so I looked it up. It IS contagious. She's been coughing since last week and even lost her voice mid-week. She's up to a raggedy whisper now. I don't understand why she keeps talking. She sounds so ill. I'm really bothered. At first I was concerned about her health and kept telling her to take a few days off and get lots of rest and see the doctor. You know, all good advice. But she won't and I think I know why. She's one of those people who work their asses off waiting to be recognised for their hard work and getting praised for being such a wonderful worker and how they're such a credit to the company. Bullshit. She is NOT going to get a raise for this. Ugh I wish I could shake some sense into her but I'm afraid she'll cough germs in my face. I kept reminding her that should she be hospitalized, the company will only cover so much of her medical expenses. They don't care after they've fulfilled their obligation. It's a business not Red Cross. The sicker she gets and the longer she stays sick, the more expensive the treatment will get. Yet she won't take heed. Well I'm through telling her to go home. I'm so pissed off at her now for being an idiot about this. Doesn't she understand that no one cares if she keels over and dies? Everyone will say oh what a crying shame, she was such a sweet girl. But they'll eventually have someone clear the mess. The next day, someone will be sitting at her desk. Business as usual. She's being a moron. Ugh she should just go home. Last night, she had a coughing fit that lasted at least half an hour. It was nasty. I half-hoped she'd faint so they'd have to take her to the clinic or even better, the hospital, and keep her there until she's better.

Elevator Stories #5: Wrong floor

2007-01-26T19:58:00.000+08:00

On my daily afternoon break, I came across three silly girls. They looked like job seekers fresh out of college: intimidated, clueless and unprepared. They were giggling like a bevy of schoolgirls on recess. They also seemed like close friends sharing an adventure. Good attitude. They bumped into me, well they were bumping into everyone really, in the elevator lobby. The elevator I was waiting for shoots straight up to the 20th floor from ground level. They were obviously lost and I don't know why they followed me inside the lift when they were clearly unsure of what to do. One of them hesitated and said I don't think this is right, but she got on anyway, propelled by her friends' sudden hysteria at the thought of being separated. They were discussing their next move and were about to alight when I pressed the door close button. This action should by no means be taken as cruelty on my part. I am not an unkind person but I wasn't about to let excellent entertainment get away either. They seemed like they were having fun anyway, in a terror-stricken sort of way.

It was a hilarious sight, one was wailing about being hopelessly lost "Where are we going? What floor are we on? How do we get out of here? Oh we'll never find our way" and another giggling uncontrollably, so much so that she had her mouth open but she was not producing any sound at all on account of the lack of air coming in. The third one was laughing too but at least she was struggling for composure as she tried to gain some control of the situation by speaking slowly to the other two. She didn't seem to be getting through to them. The doors opened at 20 and they shuffled themselves out when I got out. I had to exit the scene quickly because by this time I couldn't help smiling widely, thoroughly amused, and I was finding it difficult to wipe it off my face. When I left them, they were standing in the lobby awkwardly, holding each other up and still tittering.

Silly girls.

Breathe again (hehe)

2007-01-26T13:38:00.000+08:00

I'm still alive. Apparently my heart is too relaxed. That's what Nurse G says (yes, I think it's a ridiculous thought too). We usually walk together after work to our respective stops and she's always brimming with remedies and diagnoses whenever something afflicts me. I don't like to bother her with my health problems when we're walking because, well, apart from the fact that I seem to have so many, it is after work hours and she may be sick (pardon the weak pun) of dealing with ailing employees. But she insists on knowing, so I tell her.

I have been walking two kilometers morning and night since and I find that I feel much better. Although I suspect it is the work of endorphins, I let myself relax (but not too much, of course). I checked my pulse prior to all this walking nonsense and my heartbeats were at 60 per minute, weak ones at that. Even though I don't know what 'weak' is, I was duly alarmed. It's better today though, I checked it again this morning and my heart gives me 70 stronger ones now. My lungs feel okay and my heart is more upbeat but now my hip is sore and I walk with a slight limp because I do not stretch. I can't win.

Barely breathing

2007-01-24T22:49:00.000+08:00

I've been having trouble breathing this past week. I don't like taking meds and I'm not a big fan of doctors. Yup, I'm one of those. When I don't feel well, I just drink a lot of water and rest as much as I can and that usually does it. There's never been anything seriously wrong with my respiratory system until now.

Now, I'm usually good at sleeping, I can pretty much sleep anywhere anytime if I decided I wanted a nap. But last night it took me over two hours to fall asleep, mainly because I was afraid I might stop breathing in my sleep. By midnight, I was making a conscious effort to take deep steady breaths. I must have overdone it because I got really lightheaded and a bit nauseated. Hehe I never would have pegged me as a stupid breather. Hehe.

Anyway, it didn't improve at all throughout today. In fact, breathing became even more laboured as the day wore on. I kept getting urges to breathe more and more deeply until my chest hurt. I found that bit worrying. I've decided to monitor things for at least a week.

I'm guessing this whole breathing episode was brought on by a combination of general poor health, a lack of exercise and eating habits that rock (yeah!) but not so good for the body. Oh yeah and the smoking bit but I'm putting a stop to that, well at least until I'm sure it isn't emphysema or lung disease.

To start things off, I had a wonderful salad for dinner and walked two kilometers on the treadmill when I got home. I didn't want to run straight away because I'm lazy and weak. We'll see how things go.

2007: Fixing broken teeth, learning stuff and managing money

2007-01-22T14:32:00.000+08:00

Those three take top priority as I slowly get used to 2007. I have a lot of exciting things to sort out this year. For one, my teeth need attention! Huhu I think I'll need to set aside time to see the dentist at least once a month for most of this year. How horrid. If only people didn't put so much importance on pretty teeth these days, I'd live quite a happy life as a toothless cackling wrinkled old lady. Hmph. Another dream frustrated.

Also I have loads of french review to go over, which will probably take up most of the year as well. I'm very forgetful and I like to put things off all the bloody time.

And it looks like I may stay on at this job longer than I had projected. Although I've started looking around, I'm not in any real hurry to go through the hassle of changing jobs again. I only found out recently that there's a few other useful bonuses that I was not aware of. Basically in addition to health care, regular employees, such as myself, are given a nice amount to cover extra medical expenses. Provided I keep the receipts of course, because I'll need to present those before reimbursement. But yeah basically my eye care is pretty much covered this year, including new frames and lots of eyedrops for my sick left eye. They even have something called an economic bonus. Hehe woohoo indeed.

Ugh I've grown bored with this post. Hmm ok just quickly now, other things I'd like to get started on are small investments, mostly to test myself and my money. We've never properly mixed before so I'm rather wary to proceed to the next step of its management. It's not as deathly boring as I had always feared. I'm actually beginning to be really interested in defining my spending habits and allocating funds for shiny things that I just have to have.

The French starts

2007-01-20T23:14:00.000+08:00

I attended my French class this afternoon after lunchtime. I got off to a laughably shaky start since I haven't been speaking the language seriously for years. That's how big a procrastinator and lazyass I am. The class did me good though, it was wonderful and now I'm dizzy with excitement about getting started, so much that I've already borrowed stuff from the library and I'm still up with the intention of cracking open my new book to start reviewing. Yes folks, this is what I'm doing on a Saturday night. Alright then, ça recommence.

Book and Film: The Princess Bride

2007-01-18T19:52:00.000+08:00

So I read the book during the Malaysian trip and I have to say I was incredibly disappointed. The film is one of my favorite adventure movies ever (shut up), so much that people find watching it with me around annoying and pretty much impossible because I recite the lines aloud. I know it's annoying but I can't help it. Reading the book gave me little or no pleasure but I stuck with it because I felt compelled to finish it, and I was hoping it would pick up at some point. It didn't really, at least not for me. I was very irritated to discover that the Pit of Despair doesn't exist in the book; instead there is something called the Zoo of Death, completely different from the story I had grown up with. I realize that film production would have been a logistical nightmare and the budget would have been insane but still. I fell into my own pit of despair even when exciting new things were happening all around me.

Everyone was too chatty for my taste as well. Westley wasn't clever enough and he actually slaps Buttercup when she says, "I have loved more deeply than a killer like you could ever dream". In the film, he just raises his hand as a 'warning'. Some hero! Hmph. Buttercup herself is irritatingly dim-witted, I could not get over it. Even the freaking head of security had more lines than I deemed necessary.

Too unsettled by it, I did some research as soon as I got online at home. This 'classic tale of true love and high adventure' is supposedly written by some Florinese guy (bear with me) named S. Morgenstern and is abridged by William Goldman (he is most famous for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid). He also writes the screenplay for the film. It got quite confusing but apparently S. Morgenstern is, wait for it, Mr. Goldman himself. It's supposedly brilliant, the way the book is written, leading readers to believe that places such as Florin and Guilder exist and that the story itself is centuries old. They are, in fact, old (relatively) names for Dutch coins. Yes, it was very silly of me to believe that such places existed but when I grew up, everything was real. I am very impressionable.

Anyway, in light of all of that brouhaha, I grudgingly admit that maybe it is quite clever of the author to have written the book the way he did, I've never read anything like it, but I found it too distracting. There I was, engrossed in the story, hanging onto every word, and then--bam--the author inserts a silly footnote about his fictional son (he has two daughters in real life) smack in the middle of a particularly intense scene. There were so many times I bolted upright in my seat thinking, wtf!

I'm going to watch this film again very soon to get rid of the mental anguish that I've been subjected to and restore the story to the way it is in my head, the way it's meant to be: A classic tale of true love and high adventure with no freakin' running commentary.

Call center agents = Endless Entertainment

2007-01-16T12:51:00.000+08:00

The phone rings, someone picks up and then hands it to me.

(Surprised because no one ever calls me at home) Me: Hello?

Citibank Guy (at 70 words a second): Ma'am, this is so-and-so from Citibank and I'm just calling you to ask if you are satisfied with our service and whether you are receiving your billing statements on time.

Me (worried, absolutely paranoid about late charges): Yes, I have been, but last month's statement was late but I made my payments anyway, just guessing the amount due. Is something wrong?

CG: No ma'am we were just verifying (too fast to understand)...Bythewayareyouawarethatyourcreditlimithasbeenincreasedrecently?Youhavebeenselectedoutofthemanysubscribersofthiscardtypebecauseofyourgoodcreditstandingandyouhavenotincurredanypenaltiesorlatecharges...

Me (flattered): Oh yeah I know, yeah that's cool thanks.

CG: Notonlythatma'am,inadditiontoyournewcreditlimitwearealsoofferingyouanextra40,000pesosatverycompetitivelylowinterestratesintheformofamanager'scheck...doyouhaveanythingenrolledinthepayliteplanatthemoment...?

Me (getting confused): Actually yes I do, I've just bought a camera and..

CG: Wellma'amyouhavetheopportunitytousethemanager'schecktopayforitatalowerinterestrate...

Me (confused): But I thought the paylite plan allowed me to pay within a certain amount of time at zero percent interest? Are you telling me I am getting charged with interest every month? Why, that's misrepresentation--

CG: Well ma'am that's how some stores do it...(too fast)

Me: What stores do it? I don't understand. I thought it was a Citibank promo thing?

CG: Nonoma'am,Ijustmeantthatifyouhaveanoutstandingbalanceafterbilling,payingwiththemanager'scheckthatisonlyavailabletoselectedsubscribersandyouhavebeenselectedbecauseofyour goodcreditstandingalowerinterestratewillbechargedtoyou--

Me: But if I pay on time every month like I always do, I won't be charged the interest?

CG: That'srightbutma'amyouseethisisaspecialofferthatIthoughtyoumightliketoavailbecause (too fast again and lots of numbers)

Me: Well you just raised my credit limit, right? I don't think I need all that money right now, there isn't anything I want to buy just yet but thank you.

CG: Wellma'amwhilewe'reonthephoneIwouldalsoliketoofferanotherpromothatisavailabletoyoubecauseofyourgoodcreditstanding,whichisthebalanceprotector..

Me (curious): Ooh, Balance Protector. What's that?

CG: Wellma'am...

I'm going to spare you. Basically he wanted me to avail of this balance protector thing because should anything untoward happen to me and I have an outstanding balance in my account, neither I nor my family will be held liable for it any longer because that's how good it is. To make it short, I wasn't getting charged extra in my billing statement because I'm such a goody goody, with my good credit standing and all, so he was trying to charge me for my unbilled balances. Only he calls it a 'contribution'. It's not much, about 6 pesos for every 1,000 pesos worth of transactions that I make. But let's say I had 5,000 unbilled every month, that would be 35 and for a whole year that's 420. It went on for at least 30 minutes, him giving me the hard sell and basically repeating that something bad could happen to me at anytime. He even went as far as asking me for confirmation to go ahead with the pre-activation and I had to be clear that I didn't want it so I said, Hey wait a minute, I haven't agreed to anything. He was actually being very slick and I had to put a stop to it because I was going to be late for work. So I said:

Me: Well I don't think I'll need it right now, I'm not really interested in extra charges (being careful not to call it contribution even after being corrected at least a dozen times by him), but thanks.

CG (persistent bastard that he is): Wellokayma'am,butlikeIsaid,ifanythinguntowardhappens..

Me (laughing a little): I'm going to keep using the card and I'm going to keep paying on time, you don't need to scare me with the what-ifs.

CG (indignant): I wasn't trying to scare you, who says I was, I merely said that--

Me: Well you keep telling me I could die at any moment, basically making me afraid enough to buy just about anything--

Dial tone.

A book: Another attempt at studying harder (not its title)

2007-01-16T09:27:00.000+08:00

The title is actually The Ultimate French Review and Practice and I found it in Kinokuniya and although it was quite expensive, I got it anyway because we don't have it here. I've leafed through it and so far it looks friendly but I know it's going to be difficult working it into my schedule. I get lots of sleep with this current one hehe. I do love learning but I can't stand studying and I'm always trying to get out of actually doing it. My french class started last Saturday and I missed it because I was still gallivanting but the plan is I'm going to try to come at least an hour earlier so I can sit my ass down and do some exercises. I should like to be done with this book and be all French fortified within two months.

Malaysia: Holiday over

2007-01-15T23:35:00.000+08:00

Boohoo. I started work today. We arrived yesterday afternoon and after distributing goodies to eager hands, I took a nap and only woke up briefly to stare at the television. Then I closed my eyes and went to sleep again.

I am in the process of resizing the 600+ (some of which are of the same thing, I was trying out different settings) photos that I took. So, for those of you who are waiting for the link, please be patient.

Photos didn't really turn out as great as I had hoped. I need to work on understanding The Bitch more, I guess. But for the very impatient, here are some of the better ones:

Roti tisu!

Turtles

One of the doors to Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion

Buddhas with the weird backwards swastikas

Pantai Cenang beach in Langkawi

Token Petronas towers photo

Malaysia: A holiday destination part 5

2007-01-12T19:28:00.000+08:00

So yes, indeedy, Malaysia is truly Asia, which is sometimes good and sometimes bad, as Asia is and should be. We arrived in KL late last night and this will be our last leg of the trip. Phew, finally! I'm sunburnt and so sick of walking, I'm absolutely exhausted! Hehe it was fun! Oh and if my calculations are correct, by the time I get back home, I would have spent exactly 446 US dollars. Including my shopping, token presents for friends, family and other people who expect something from me. Yes my friends, I am zee best.

Okay so Langkawi was definitely the most expensive part of our trip, mainly because there is no public transport there and the food was pretty pricey. But good! Sand so white and so fine, the water cool and refreshing, only downside was that it was jellyfish and cuttlefish season so loads of little jellyfish eggs were in the water and that made it both icky and itchy to be in the water. Beautiful beautiful place. I have vowed to return, I absolutely loved it there. KL is nice and a lot greener than Manila but it's like any other city really. We went up the Petronas Towers earlier and it was good and silly. Too bad it was overcast and foggy. We also went to Chinatown on Jalan Petaling (I think) and it seemed to me a combination of Greenhills and Divisoria. So many knock off Louis Vuitton bags and Gucci belts haha! Loads of white tourists bug-eyed with disbelief and awe. I could practically see the rapid currency conversion in their eyes. Cameron Highlands would have been amazing, if it weren't so damn cold. But I got to see how tea is grown (acres and acres of tea leaves!) and ate a lot of yummy food! Ipoh seemed like a wealthy place but it was scorching hot there and we spent all of our time in the car (like I mentioned earlier), so I wasn't able to appreciate it much. Penang was charming, dirty and busy and I swear we walked at least a hundred kilometers on that damn island, sightseeing and looking for a place to stay. We went to this pagoda and the experience was unusual. The buddhas had swastikas on their chests, so bizarre and the steps leading up to the temples were littered with vendors selling souvenirs and bottles of water. Very very odd.

Some Malaysians were very friendly, others were dismissive (we are goddamn tourists after all) and still others were downright rude. But all in all, I loved this trip. I am already planning my next trip. Cambodia? Laos? Vietnam? Oh the possibilities are endless!

Woohoo tomorrow is shopping day! Yay!

Malaysia: A holiday destination part 4

2007-01-08T22:54:00.001+08:00

Madness! Adventure! Excellent food! Never a dull moment! If there is one, I take a wee nap. We spent the weekend up in the mountains (Cameron Highlands) where it was cold, wet and freezing. Of course, I had a blast anyway. Today was crazy, we left the mountains and drove down to Ipoh for a day trip and promptly spent that in our friend's car, driving around and getting stuck in traffic until we were completely and hopelessy lost. Hihi. It would have been more fun if I WASN'T BURSTING FOR A PEE!

We are in Georgetown, Penang at the moment. We arrived earlier this evening and spent 2 solid hours of walking and huffing and puffing. We found a decent hotel, got ourselves cleaned up and went for dinner. The food here rocks!

Read Paula's entry on this for now. I AM EXHAUSTED but very happy.

From the 200 USD I changed when I arrived in KL, I got about 700 ringgits for that. I have a little over 500 ringgits left. Wonderfully within budget.

Malaysia: A holiday destination part 3

2007-01-05T09:49:00.000+08:00

Okay so the mustard rings are the parts of Malaysia that Paula and I will be traveling to. Although the location of Cameron Highlands is something that I could be making up entirely (Paula, am I making it up?). I don't know what's in Ipoh but apparently Michelle Yeoh is from there.

Anyway, I finally got leave approval an hour before I left the office last night. So a lot of woohoos are in order. It is for realz: I set off tomorrow morning!

I have all these expenses and I haven't even left yet! Okay this is the useful-info-for-the-budget-traveler section:

Budget: USD 500 / PHP 24,700 / MYR 1,770
Spent so far (plane tickets): USD 106 / PHP 5,200 / MYR 375

Expected expenses (since I won't be able to post for the next few days):
Shuttle to Clark, Air Asia airport: PHP 300 (one way)
Travel Tax: PHP 1,600 (more or less)
Airport tax (?): PHP 300+

Cash on hand: USD 200 (about 10k in pesos)

I'll update this once I have accurate info. I know I'm totally mixing my currencies but I can't be bothered to convert.

Un cours français

2007-01-03T12:45:00.000+08:00

I enrolled myself in a french conversation class earlier. I was supposed to enroll in another one but the weekday class that I wanted wasn't being offered in the morning. So I used the extra cash to pay for my credit card bill. Oh I know, I'm so responsible. I haven't even received the statement yet but I won't be around next week and I know from experience that those finance charges are big bitches. They bite off huge chunks of your ass if you're not vigilant. You gotta keep those fuckers at bay!

Anyway a very sad thing has happened: I decided that I'm going to have to suspend my german learning for a while. I was really conflicted with that decision but I believe that it's for a good cause, that cause being one of those important investments that one believes will be beneficial to oneself in the future. I also believe that I'm really full of it today. The reason I'm studying french now is I'm planning to take a big ass exam sometime later this year (when I feel I am good and ready...problem is, I don't feel good and ready at all) which, if I pass it, will open many exciting (and lucrative) opportunities for me. It's really expensive, so failure is not an option. It's only sad for a little while and then if it all works according to the master plan, then I can be happy happy joy joy again with the Deutschlernen. Well, the results of the final exam were less than satisfactory anyway, I passed but I didn't get the sehr gut. I was really struggling in that last course. So I shall have to retake German 5 when I resume my studying and focus on maintaining a sehr gut status.

Alright, enough of all that boring studying and future planning shit. I'm going to Malaysia in 3 days, people! THREE DAYS!

Malaysia: A holiday destination part 2

2007-01-02T12:23:00.000+08:00

I'm exciiiited! 4 more days! Exciiiiited!

Packing is an art and I take it very seriously. With that said, I did my preliminary packing over the weekend, before I went out on Sunday night knowing I would need all of yesterday to recover. Hihi I was right, I got home at 7 in the morning and slept for most of the day. Anyway, I just need to add a few more things in my backpack like toiletries and underwear and I'm all set. I've gotten very good at remembering to bring everything I need but I always worry. I also tried confirming my flight last week but I kept getting cut off. I read the fine print on my ticket and I may not need it after all. Well I'll just find out on Saturday, won't I? I've already applied for international roaming on my phone and I bought new contacts woohoo! I've started learning some useful Malay words and expressions and it's been really fun, it's very similar to Tagalog. I'm pretty sure Malaysians speak English (I think so anyway) but it's always fun to learn a new language and I enjoy either shocking people with my impressive amazing vocabularly or getting laughed at. I usually get the latter reaction. Hihi I do hope I don't get them too mixed up when I have to use them.

Other things to keep in mind:
- Keeping all my travel docs together
- Changing currency (I've decided to change 200 US and use my bank card if I need more cash. Also I intend to use my credit card whenever possible)
- Make a copy of important numbers I might need while travelling
- Getting in touch with HC members and making sure to inform them of my plans regularly. I wouldn't want them to take the time to clear their schedule only to discover that I've decided to change plans.

I hope I haven't forgotten anything. I know I'm being a big geek about this but as soon as I get the tedious practical stuff out of the way then it's all fun fun fun and adventure!

Budget and what I've spent so far: unchanged from first Malaysia entry (apart from the few useless minutes trying to call Air Asia's hotline and the few pesos I'm going to lose when I change my money)

Happy first of 2007

2007-01-01T21:02:00.000+08:00

I had a blast celebrating the start of 2007 with family and friends. Hope everyone else did too. 2006 was a pretty good year for me. Looking forward to another great one!

A fire drill

2006-12-30T13:34:00.000+08:00

It happened yesterday afternoon and it was good, now I know where the exits are. Also, if a fire does break out, I know better than to stand around and wait for everybody else to make a move. It's best to be among the first ones out of there than exit with the crowd because it takes so long to get out. If panicked, it's easy to see how a slow orderly exit can turn into a bloody stampede. I realized why my officemates hesitated when they heard the alarms go off. We were all the way up on the 20th floor. Some wanted to stay behind, complaining about the disturbance, knowing it was only a drill. Curious, I joined the obedient sensible ones and descended twenty flights of stairs with people from the other floors. By level 12, my legs were shaking. Although it was no surprise, I was distraught to discover how much weaker and more out of shape than I had previously thought. When I reached ground level, my legs were a spasmodic mess and I fought to keep my knees from buckling.

The entire drill took a little over half an hour and my legs were still trembling by the time I got back to my desk. It gave me little comfort to know that everyone else had the same problem. I really should sort out this lack of exercise.

I've just rubbed ointment on the backs of my legs. They burn each time I flex them. Oh how they burn!

And I know it's off topic but Saddam Hussein has been executed.

Internet disruption

2006-12-28T22:49:00.001+08:00

My internet connection at work has been shockingly dreadful for the past two days. Several sites I use for translation don't work at all, including Google. It takes an eternity for one page to load, if it does work. I was using WebCrawler to do my research for crying out loud! And Alta Vista! Yes, it's still alive! Yahoo works very very slowly and it doesn't yield as many results as Google does. Then again maybe I'm just biased. I've also started using a ratty book dictionary! It was in such bad shape that I spent over an hour taping pages because they actually crumbled when I flipped too fast. It was literally falling apart. Teehee.

Since I can't surf the net properly and read anything, I only just discovered the magnitude of the damage caused by the recent earthquakes earlier this evening. My connection at home is fine but the one at work is truly fucked. According to our tech people, it's going to take at least three weeks to have everything fully operational. Three weeks! The misery I feel right now is beyond description.

Chrismiss, merry enough

2006-12-27T22:59:00.000+08:00

I spent a quiet and very productive Christmas with my parents. We worked on my mom's project for three days and I was staring at the computer for so long that my right eye started twitching and wouldn't stop for two days. It would have been funny if it wasn't hindering my sight so much and I was actually worried that it might have been a developing psychosis.

It's strange spending the holidays without my sisters. They both got married earlier this year and for the most part I've felt like I've gained two brothers instead of losing both sisters. They've moved out since and I thought I took it all in stride. However, not having them around never had the sense of permanence that I felt over this past weekend. It was slow and took me completely by surprise. Without a warning, I just felt so depressed and I started thinking that maybe I did lose them after all. I guess that's probably why everyone's been solicitous towards me all year. Good thing there was that project to finish which kept me suitably occupied. Thegan arrived the next night and we had another dinner and while we still weren't complete, I took solace in the fact that we can still spend time together, albeit infrequently.

A book: American Psycho

2006-12-24T21:33:00.000+08:00

I don't know what to say about this except:

Oh my god I think I'm going to be sick. I had a ham with lettuce and tomato sandwich for a late lunch and I thought I was going to throw it all up. I kept imagining the ham to be raw human flesh and the tomato had the squishy quality of an eyeball or any human part that would feel slimy after being skinned. Ugh. I still feel ill. Brilliant and utterly insane. I want to see Christian Bale as the evil psychopathic Pat Bateman.

Three things and their lessons

2006-12-22T19:54:00.000+08:00

Thing 1. I have a broken tooth that needs urgent attention. It's been broken for over a month now and it's beginning to hurt. It's going to cost me a lot of money. I consider it a lot since I expect to spend an amount roughly equalivent to zero on my health.

Lesson:
To chew food carefully and to take special care when dealing with tough bits of bacon. Oh but bacon, you hurt me so good.

Thing 2. I tore my left contact lens last night. It's a special one because it goes in the eye that has a scar on the cornea. A corneal ulcer developed in my left eye in 2005, leaving me with a scar right smack in the middle of the cornea. Therefore, everything that I see with my left eye comes with a fuzzy dreamlike appearance. The only way I can see clearly is if I get a corneal transplant, which carries a lot of risks. The replacement contact lens is going to cost me a lot of money.

Lessons:
a. Always take your time when putting in contacts.
b. The water in Boracay is swimming with all kinds of vicious organisms.
c. Do not swim with your contacts in.
d. If you insist on doing so, do not leave them in overnight.

Trust me on letter d, you do not want to get corneal ulcer. Without immediate treatment, it will make your cornea rupture until it eventually explodes. The treatment involves taking injections of special medication to your eyeball. I took two. It made my eye horror-film red for over a week.

Thing 3. I bought a little digital camera last night. She is called The Bitch. Yes, that is her common name. We have a loving relationship. She needs an SD card. I am getting one for her tomorrow in Quiapo. Why am I going to Quiapo in this season, you ask me? Because:

1GB SD card in Manila = 3,000
2GB SD card in Quiapo = 1,700

Lesson: If I am willing to go over the budget to get me a lovely little toy, then I am certainly not above trying to remedy the situation by doing something extremely stressful, possibly unproductive and totally asking for Murphy's Law to be all over it.

Malaysia: A holiday destination part 1

2006-12-21T12:56:00.000+08:00

Paula and I booked flights to Malaysia last April with AirAsia. I did it on a whim, I had no idea where I was going to be in January, I was in the middle of changing jobs and I felt lost in the transition to Actual Growing Up. And I cringe (so violently it hurts) when people say, "Oh, are you having a quarter life crisis?" Yes, that's right I'm going to live to a hundred, insert derogatory term here please. In short, I was probably drunk when I decided with ironclad resolve to go. Best move ever. Anyway, the year has been extremely kind to me. I'm happily out of credit card debt, I know, I must have said this a thousand times already but I'm absolutely swimming in pride and love for myself for having accomplished this and I haven't gotten over it yet. I'm really full of myself about that, so just leave me alone. I've made plans and have surprisingly been consistent in following through on most of them (I'm normally one of those full speed ahead and then lose steam halfway through a project types) and I've got more planned till June 2007. All this is so unlike last year's me when I didn't know what I was doing the coming weekend and couldn't care less. Ed said I looked mature at lunch today (not old but mature haha) and sounded pleased. I vacillate between being pleased and being worried so much that I think I'm going batty. But the growing up wagon set off ages ago so I'll just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. I do miss spontaneity and that's where the Malaysian adventure comes in! We're flying from Clark (Pampanga) so Paula and I need to get up bright and early to catch the bus that takes us there. And as soon as we arrive in KL, her friend (my friend now too!) is picking us up and we're driving north to Cameron Highlands. Woohoo! Go go go!!! I'm so excited I want to start packing. I probably will start doing so next week even though it's over two weeks away, I love packing. It's all so very exciting.

I want to know if Malaysia is truly Asia.

Budget: USD 500 / PHP 24,700 / MYR 1,770
Spent so far: USD 106 / PHP 5,200 / MYR 375 (on plane tickets, MLA-KL-MLA and Langkawi-KL)

Elevator Stories #4: Goodies and a can of Sprite

2006-12-20T13:34:00.000+08:00

Yesterday during our break, I met Hairboy outside across the building for a smoke. He's leaving in January! So many people are leaving the company this month and next month too, but there are loads of newly hired...hirelings. Hihihi. Anyway afterwards we went to the building canteen to get something to eat. Nothing ever looks appetizing there (although I do dine there quite often) so I just bought a can of Sprite. We dallied in the elevator lobby while waiting for our ride. There were several people walking around carrying large gift packs and we griped about how small and light ours were. We talked about how we expected to have a difficult time carrying them around at the party last weekend before they were distributed and imagined how we would strain under the weight of the goodies. We even devised elaborate plans of getting them home successfully. One of the gift pack carriers was particularly burdened by his basket, it was full of yummy chips and fruit and loads of canned stuff, I think I even saw a bottle of cheap wine in there. HB and I were very envious indeed.

So we got in our lift and tried to laugh off our envy. By this time, my hand had gotten very numb from the cold can so I shifted it to the other hand that already held my phone and wallet. That can was freezing cold. Our lift had only a handful of people in it and there was room to move around. I wasn't sure if popping open a can of soda is considered rude but I feared my fingers would start falling off. Loudly I asked HB if it was okay for me to open my can. He said it was fine but looked a little doubtful. The others glanced at me briefly and looked as if they would frown upon this sort of thing. I was going to wait till we got off at our floor but I wanted to know if they would say anything and more importantly, I wanted to know if the pressure from the can would interfere with the smooth elevator operation. Hehe. I popped it open. I took a sip and it tasted like Sprite. Nothing happened to the elevator. I got frowned at though. I did discover that the popping sound is a lot noisier and more intrusive and I felt rude for not having waited. So now I know better. You really do learn by doing.

Partied out

2006-12-19T22:56:00.000+08:00

I skipped two parties tonight and went home straight after work. Parties I actually would love being at because close friends will be there. I think I need rest more though. Work was a bitch (although I did have free pizza for dinner yay) and I've been having trouble sleeping of late. Ugh I feel older. I need to recharge. I can't wait for the weekend.

Office party

2006-12-18T20:36:00.000+08:00

I went to my office christmas party last Saturday dressed in a cheongsam as planned. I tried putting my hair up in a bun and sticking a chopstick in, you know, to look all cool and everything. But loads of waiters were bustling about and they kept bumping and messing up my lovelily coiffed hair. I thought it might make my hair look sexily tousled. But really I just looked unkempt. Frustrating, I know. So anyway, we ate heaps of food and participated in heaps of games and singing and dancing. I won a box of swissmiss which Hairboy swiped later that evening, by accident he says. It's fat free! Everyone wants a box of that! Anyway he gave it back to me this morning. Swissmiss for chrismiss yay.

Then someone suggested going to a karaoke bar, which I thought was a brilliant idea. There were over a dozen of us lugging our gift packs and raffle prizes (some won oven toasters and rice cookers hehe) to Music 21, where we spent hours singing and dancing and drinking beer. I think we split the cover of one of the seats, I felt the foamy insides tickling my feet at some point. Whoops. I blame Like a Prayer. Sweet Madonna in the midnight hour.

What audacity!

2006-12-15T19:37:00.000+08:00

Someone has defaced my sign! (if confused, read previous post Such villainy!)

What cheek! I am beginning to take this as a personal affront. Some joker has taken it upon himself (or herself, as I suspect) to write a suggestion for me! It is here:
Loose translation: "Get another one (tissue roll) from the restroom"

Of all the impudent things! (I must say, I am a little amused by this turn of events). I will not tolerate this!

And I didn't. My reply is the bottomest line, in Tagalog no less! I mean business!

Loose translation: "And turn me into a thief as well?"

Notice how perfectly my handwriting reflects my rage? Well, it was more like the crouching position I had to maintain to be able to write my response. But indeed, raging I was!

This cannot go on. I believe I know who this brazen writer is but I do not think it is she who has made off with my precious tissue. Although I deduce that several members of my team are privy to the identity of the culprit. I fear that they are turning it into a joke. Cruel cruel joke.

A book: Haroun and the sea of stories

2006-12-15T14:58:00.000+08:00

It's a cuddly book! I was very wary at first because I'm not a big Rushdie fan (I thought Shame was a disaster) but Paula is and she lent me this book, probably to change my mind. Well good on her (good on you, Paula!) because it has and I am very grateful! I was very tough on it too but after a few chapters, little giggles of delight kept bursting out of me, forced their way out really, despite my best efforts not to be amused. It's got a The Little Prince feel to it, for me anyway, but it holds its own.

Such villainy!

2006-12-14T17:55:00.000+08:00

Despite my mother's insistence that I stay home and convalesce properly, I decided to go to work. I got to the office without incident. I sat at my desk and got settled in. I reached into my drawer to take out the supplies I was to use for the day. To my utter horror, I uncovered that a miscreant has inflicted a malicious act on my person. I am appalled that this malefaction can take place in this office! To think that a company of such high standing in the international community (At least that's what they've been telling us. Telling me. Has it all just been a bunch of lies? Lies, LIES! Scoundrels!) could employ such a vile reprobate! This debasement, this wicked deed, cannot be allowed to happen again!

Someone has stolen my tissue.

Thief! Rogue! Brigand! Plunderer! Marauder (I've always wanted to use that word)!

Now I don't actually care about the lost item. I could just as easily take a whole roll from the restroom. But the point is, there was no need for me to pilfer one as I had my own. It's the principle. And now this. This this. I have decided not to let this slide. Obviously I'm not about to go around accosting every single employee on this floor like some madwoman. Okay maybe I would for fun. But not for this. I shall not be distracted.

I taped this sign on the bottom drawer of my desk, the scene of this dastardly deed.

I will NOT be terrorized! *shakes fist*

No time for being ill

2006-12-14T11:05:00.000+08:00

Maybe this is payback for calling in sick last Friday when I wasn't actually physically ill. I've been running a slight fever and feeling generally weak since the start of this week and I've been conserving energy because I get so tired with the littlest things. I've refused to call in sick till today. Well I said I would try to come in and work the second half of my shift. I can't call in sick as that may jeopardize my trip to KL next month for a week. Paula and I booked our flights ages ago (last April) with Air Asia because flying with them is dirt cheap. 4k for a roundtrip fare! Score! Anyway so yeah, I'm really excited about that and I'm supposed to behave like a model employee until the supervisor approves my leave. I was supposed to talk to him about it today but forget that, I'll have to wait until next week. He's just come out of a management training seminar/conference as well and he's been walking around with folders in his hand and looking very serious and busy all week. I wonder if this affects my chances of going on holiday ever again.

I've got a nice dinner tomorrow night and I get to dress up and I can't be ill for that! And the big company party is on Saturday and I have to go! We get to wear costumes and everything. I was supposed to go as Chun Li but my cheongsam looks nothing like hers and because her thighs are unbelievably ripped in a I-can-kill-you-with-these-big-mommas-so-don't-even-try-it way while mine are nice and they wobble in a friendly way from time to time. Come to think of it, it could very well be one of those cosplay conventions I keep hearing about. Not sure how I feel about that now.

Catching up on Friday and Saturday

2006-12-10T14:16:00.000+08:00

Last Friday, I called in sick at my family's insistence. Well I did have a tummyache the night before and I am sick of work after all. Anyway my family and I spent the entire afternoon together as we went to Eastwood to go bowling, play billiards and have dinner. At bowling, I was best as Mildred but I would have to say that Bertha is definitely my favorite bowling name. I didn't even break a 100 as Helga so I may never use that name ever again. After nearly tearing my arm out of its socket, I stopped to play billiards against Donoval as I teamed up with Dad. I still suck but I'm relieved to note that there are signs of definite improvement. I intend to play a little more regularly and a little bit better next year.

We had a lovely dinner at a Japanese resto. It has a good reputation but we had a major miso soup misunderstanding with the staff and there was a little bit of commotion that could not be sorted for the longest time. In any case, we finished our meal, paid the bill and left without leaving a tip, to my dad's dismay.

--

I was too lazy to get up early on Saturday plus my body was sore from the previous night's activities so I had to skip getting beauty services done, resulting in me looking like a complete troll for a party I had later in the evening and most likely for the rest of this coming week as well. I went shopping in Market Market! (I think that exclamation mark is a nice touch), thinking the crowd would somehow be thinner, but I was dead WRONG. Furthermore, I don't think some of them bothered to bathe. I did still manage to get presents for my exchange gift person. I made it to the party pretty much on time despite a little bit of rain and the rush shopping. Brought a friend with me and we changed into evening party wear in her car on the way over from the mall. My officemates were funny and we drank beer and ate loads of food. There was a bunch of parlor games with prizes for the winners (I snagged myself a cutie photo album which I will try to use but honestly hardly anyone prints photos these days) and people performed dance numbers. I had to participate in a guitar-accompanied, offkey-singing number and smoothly avoided playing the guitar. There was a pool and I went swimming with a few people and hugged dry ones whenever I was out of the pool. Of course a Filipino party is not complete without karaoke singing and dancing but I left early because I was too frightened to take a cab home and public transport going my way doesn't operate all night. I just found out that one of my sister's officemates was a victim of the taxi modus operandi going around this season, where the cabbie drives a bit off your route and two men get in and robbed you of everything. I really should sort out renewing my driver's license but a couple of nights at the beach set my detox period back so I will need to start over again. So wait I must, unless I decide to drink a glass of vinegar a day. I don't really know why that fixes everything but I'm very impressionable and heaps of people have sworn to me that it works.

--

I've also started getting very obsessed with increasing my fan ranking in the The Amazing Race Asia forum, which has risen from number 2500+ to 382 in just a few days. I accomplished this mean feat by uploading a lovely photo, voting for photos and videos and posting comments that are designed to instigate conflict, all with a cutesy attitude. Bearing in mind that most of the forum posters are 12 to 16 year olds hahahaha. It's all amazing in a very sad way. I feel strangely loved in that community of badly written English.

A book: Suite Française

2006-12-10T11:53:00.000+08:00

My sister borrowed it from her library in Melbourne for me. They're leaving this evening and I've only gotten as far as chapter 20. Nooo! It's really amazing how consistently the author (Irène Némirovsky) depicts the depth and range of emotions the refugees go through as they flee Paris. Also, the clarity of insight in this story is mind-boggling, it means she was writing this story, which is a work of fiction but steeped in history, while it was unfolding. A kind of clarity that is normally found in hindsight. I don't know why I didn't make time to read it all the way through. Huhuhu! I have to wait for bookstores to re-stock before I can get a copy now.

Film: Hard Candy

2006-12-07T14:34:00.000+08:00

Saw this about a week ago and I'm still thinking about it. Psychologically intense and painful but so worth watching. Google it if you want actual information. There's enough information about it online.

After talking about it with friends, we decided that it was a Canadian film. Lots of good, obscure and disturbing films are Canadian for some reason. Like Cube. Hehe. Anyway it's an American film set in the US, the director's British (David Slade) but the girl character is Canadian (Ellen Page). Aha!

Watch it watch it, it's goooood. Never thought much of pedophiles before this film but have long hated rapists with a passion. They should all have their balls cut off.

Mad month of December

2006-12-06T17:06:00.000+08:00

So I'm back and December craziness has begun. Work has been understandably harrowing because I was away the first two days of this week. I haven't done any Christmas shopping at all and I'm putting it off knowing full well that I'm making it worse. Traffic is worse and a short trip to the mall can be very daunting on account of the crowd. Donoval are leaving this Sunday so there's a lot of mad dashing around for last minute dinners/talks etc. There's a lot of pipe installation going on where I live and although it's progress, it's really annoying the way they're making a lot of noise tearing up the roads. They'll probably be at it for another couple of months. There are heaps of Christmas parties to attend and I'm on the drinks committee for the one (office thing) on Saturday. They want me to play guitar at the same party and although I'm not looking forward to it, I'll probably still do it. And I need to buy presents!

I'm panicking!

Beached

2006-12-05T20:08:00.000+08:00

I'm back and brown and bone tired. But happy. Real posts to follow.

Weather update: Reming is a wild one

2006-12-01T11:00:00.000+08:00

Honestly I've never been as giddy about going to the beach as I have been about this weekend's trip. I've been so excited that I've been partially packed for about two days now. I didn't realize that I've missed the sun, the sand and the water so much.

Then this stupid typhoon comes, threatens Manila, turns into a supertyphoon, an indecisive one at that, threatens other parts of Luzon, and now I read this article:

‘Reming’ weakens, heads for southern Luzon

This is what's pissing me off:

"The storm will rip through Mindoro island and Batangas province south of Manila this morning."

and this, too:

"Reming has changed course. The ultimate targets are now Batangas, Marinduque and Mindoro,” said Cruz at a news conference."

Ugh. Apparently it's so bad in Batangas that our resort had to cancel our reservations.

Reming is a spiteful fucker. Who knows where it is tomorrow. I'm very annoyed but I'm going to go to the mall to buy beach provisions anyway.

Weather update: Slow ass super typhoon

2006-11-30T16:26:00.000+08:00

He sure is a slow one. He doesn't appear to have moved since Tuesday. Aaaaaaaaaargh!!! Move it and get out of Luzon already, I want to go to the beach this weekend! I'm so annoyed. I mean, COME ON, Reming was predicted to hit Manila yesterday. But noooo, it's just a little bit windy and dark and humid today. That's like every other day in Manila.

UPDATE, 7:48PM:
This is at least 7 hours old. Typhoon2000.com should be updated early tomorrow, if doesn't get affected by the typhoon.

EYEWALL PASSAGE FORECAST TIMES (EPFT):
+ Catanduanes: Ongoing until 1PM today
+ Camarines Sur: 10AM until 7PM today
+ Camarines Norte: 3PM until 11PM today
+ Southern Quezon: 7PM today until 7AM tomorrow
+ Metro Manila: 4AM until 4PM tomorrow

Note: The EyeWall - is the ring of rain clouds surrounding the "EYE" of a Typhoon. It is here where the strongest winds and heaviest rain of a typhoon can be found. EPFT will show what local times on a given area the most damaging winds and heaviest rainfall could be experienced. EPFT changes everytime a new warning synopsis is issued. Important: This is only an estimate analysis, do not use this for life or death decisions.

Marriage of birthdays

2006-11-28T14:04:00.000+08:00

My parents are celebrating their birthday today. That's right, they were born on the same day. When my sisters and I were growing up, we concluded that that's how people decided whom to marry. It was clear and made sense. Little did we know that things get a lot murkier in time.

I'm trying to remain hopeful about this weekend. Spirits are flagging.

Weather update: Durian stinks

2006-11-28T13:08:00.000+08:00

You have got to be fucking kidding me.

The tropical storm east of Visayas has entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) and was named "REMING" (international name "Durian").

Location of Center (as of 10:00 a.m.): 870 kms east of Samar
Coordinates: 11.4°N, 134.0°E
Strength: Maximum sustained winds of 95 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 120 kph
Movement: west northwest at 26 kph
Forecast Positions / Outlook:
Wednesday morning: 350 kms east northeast of Samar
Thursday morning: in the vicinity of Catanduanes
Friday morning: in the vicinity of Metro Manila

---

I'm going to the beach this weekend in Batangas. All Durian needs to do is to stay on its fucking path and everything will be just peachy.

UPDATE, 10PM: WOOHOO!

I obviously need to chill out.

Elevator stories #3: Elevator code of honor

2006-11-27T20:33:00.000+08:00

From the moment that I board the elevator in our building, it takes me less than 10 seconds to get to my floor. In a matter of a few seconds, complete strangers are forced into a common (yet very unnatural) environment. They are suspended in time with nowhere else to go, temporarily trapped in a box with other strangers. I actually enjoy this little bit of time. While everyone is busy looking at their phones, checking their reflection in the mirror, gossiping with their companions or just plain staring off into space trying to avoid eye contact, I like looking at who I'm momentarily stuck with, trying to gauge what kind of life they lead, if they like their jobs, if they're claustrophobic, if we get stuck inside the elevator for hours, who would flip out first, that sort of thing. I find that I am fascinated by such speculations.

Everyone is mindful of personal space (very rare in Manila), trying not to annoy the others by taking up as little room as possible, avoiding making any gross bodily noises (particularly phlegmy throat clearing) and being sufficiently embarrassed in instances when it cannot be helped. Most importantly, there seems to be a strict rule, an alighting/boarding etiquette that seasoned elevator passengers adhere to. The Elevator Code of Honor if you will. Only shameless people disrespect this code.

Hairboy and I usually come across each other during our afternoon break. Today was no different. We took the down elevator together and chatted for a bit while waiting to alight on the ground floor. As soon as the doors opened, three smartly dressed girls were right outside. Briefly, I asked myself why I never ever look like they did. Then I rebuked myself, well if only you brushed your hair once in a while then maybe you can look a little bit more presentable, and no, running your fingers through your hair a couple of times doesn't count.

Now, this is the crucial moment when elevator etiquette applies. But the girls had no such respect for the ECH. They marched straight in, not waiting for us to exit the lift before they occupied it, not even stepping aside as they moved forward, making it difficult for the 5 or 6 of us still inside to get out. They knew they were being inconsiderate, but I guess they deemed it too late to backtrack without losing their composure. This kind of blatantly inconsiderate behavior annoys me. To be fair, they weren't pushing to get in but they were overpopulating the doorway and being very obnoxious about it. So as we were trying to get out and they were trying to get in, I said to them loudly, "Let us out first". No response. I should have added 'you hoes' at the end. Hardened souls, the lot of them. We finally stepped away into freedom. A man, who was with us in the lift, said, "They just walked right in, didn't they?" We were immediately bonded in our righteous indignation.

So one may be dressed impressively in a flashy corporate suit but any elevator passenger knows that it only takes a few character-stripping seconds in the elevator lobby...

A book: Freakonomics

2006-11-26T23:14:00.000+08:00

I've always been fascinated with economics but have never been able to go beyond a basic course because the information comes all at once (it seems that way to me anyway) -- the type that gets very boring very fast, and in frighteningly large amounts of it too -- so I give up. I'm still interested in it and I've tried learning it on my own since and have made incredibly slow progress.

Given my pathetic background on the subject, I was apprehensive to pick up this book but was surprised to have read it with ease, I understood more than I thought I would. Some of the data (there's simply too many of those freakin' name statistics to absorb) went over my head but the things in this book, while probably pretty useless if you expect this knowledge to effect considerable change in the material aspect of your life, are worth at least being aware of.

German update: Deutschlernen ist echt schwer!

2006-11-23T19:44:00.000+08:00

So I've been taking German classes once a week for over a year now and I still can't speak it. I feel shitty admitting it but it's true.

One day, our ever patient professor was trying to teach us accusative reflexive verbs and dative reflexive verbs and the darum, darauf, worüber stuff (absofuckinglutely no equivalent in any language that I know) when I finally couldn't take it.

I slam my pen down, lean back in my chair and heave a great big sigh.

Me: Ugh this is so hard!

Dramatic pause. I wait for everyone to shut up and pay attention to me. They do.

Me: I'm sorry I'm having trouble keeping all of this straight. I've been studying this language for a year and I still can't express myself properly. I'm beginning to feel very discouraged.

Professor Greg: It just takes some getting used to. This is the stage where, in my experience, most students give up because it gets too hard. I think you guys are making a lot of progress, and if you think about it, I hardly ever have to speak in English anymore and you understand most of what I teach in German now. Besides you only come in once a week and learning German really takes time. It's something that you need to keep doing. Once you get past all the main rules and exceptions and actually remember them, it's all pretty much the same.

I went on to say that I couldn't remember having this much trouble when I was learning French but then again I studied that nearly everyday while I was at university. I also have a terrible memory so chances are I am unable to recall just how much I really suffered. I'm really shit at French too anyway.

Some of my classmates also expressed feelings of disheartenment. Greg let us grumble like the long suffering amazing person that he is and eventually managed to lift our spirits up. If I keep at it long enough, I'm bound to get better, right?

Beach

2006-11-22T13:00:00.000+08:00

I used to take trips to the beach all the time. I just realized that I haven't been to the beach at all this year. 2006 had me preoccupied with changing jobs and acquiring new skills.

But a plan was hatched last night in the office.

I am going to the beach.

I communicate with various people on text. They are going to the beach. I want to come. I decide to approach Whiny Boss and say I want to take a couple of days off in December. WB hesitates and I swear I see him wince at hearing "vacation leave". He checks the days on his desk calendar and looks at them intently. He is stalling. He is only pretending to think hard, I see right through him. In a manner than can only be described as frightened, he looks up and asks if I have pending files for translation. As brightly as I can muster I say, "Actually I finished the last file a few hours ago, I am just waiting for new files to come in". I watch him shrink into his plush armchair as he digests the disappointing news. Yes, I am on top of it bitch. He has no grounds to keep me at work. He picks up a clipboard with the holiday dates on it. Asks me to come in either on Christmas or New Year's Day. I shake my head no way. Those are family days, my man. He retreats slightly but then attacks again and places his finger on the 26th. Boxing Day. "What about on that day?" WB is also Sneaky Bastard. I'd like to box you, I think to myself, carefully maintaining my deferent stance. Aloud I say, "I'll see about that one sir, I might be able to come in for a couple of hours but I can't commit to that right now". He is still hesitating. He does not feel like he has won. Then he sits up straight. I think he has me. He ends our meeting by saying, "Let's make sure that there are no files pending next week. I can't make a decision now, ask me again next week".

I am going to the beach.

I was at the mall on Sunday...

2006-11-21T00:03:00.000+08:00

And this here was begging to have its picture taken:

Manny Pacquiao: Badass Boxer and Umbrella Holder

Initially I thought he was endorsing a brand of umbrella. Ridiculous yes, but he's selling pretty much everything else, I can't be expected to know any better. Hehe the sales people wanted to take the umbrellas out of the shot and I had to insist they keep them there as that was the whole point I was taking the photo in the first place.

Of course I caught the match on TV, like millions of others. I expected the Pacman to kick ass but I did not wish such a humiliating defeat for his opponent. TKO in 3 rounds! Of 12! I thought that maybe they'd still be at it by round 5 at least. Poor Morales was in tears.

Hardcore fans who went to venues airing the match on large screens waited for at least 4 hours before the big event finally came on. And then it was over in about half an hour. I'm pretty sure the singing of the national anthems took longer. He won yes, but most people felt cheated anyway because it was over so soon.

Elevator stories #2: Elevator and music

2006-11-20T16:15:00.000+08:00

I was on my break earlier and I got in an elevator headed towards the ground floor. Strange that it is called an elevator, considering that it doesn't just go up. Anyway, it was semi full and people were respectfully silent except for one man who must have been playing his music at full volume, because we were getting blasted by yearning guitar strumming and equally yearning vocals. I didn't know whether to laugh because he was listening to All Out of Love by Air Supply or cry because I recognized it.

A volleyball default, airport arrivals and beer talk

2006-11-20T15:53:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, Donoval arrived with presents in the form of chocolates and clothes and books. I couldn't join them for a family dinner at home because I had that big volleyball game. My team was in the running for third place. I was actually looking forward to it, I've really enjoyed moving around and getting sweaty more than I expected I would. I've even looked into joining our building's gym and I have never worked out in a gym before. Hah. The match was at 6 and I went to the office to hitch a ride with my other teammates who were still working. We thought we had enough time to get to the place but no one knew that there was a huge midnight madness sale over the weekend and Makati was packed with mad traffic, presumably till midnight. We arrived at the game at a quarter to 6, the opposing team were all there already waiting. But the rest of our team didn't show up, who knows why. One of my teammates was on the verge of tears. So we lost on a technicality. We decided to play the 5 sets anyway, race to 15 points. We won without really breaking a sweat. Our team actually did pretty well, only losing once but then we got defaulted twice... Hehe sob sob.

I met up with friends for dinner. Ever since half my regular group migrated for a "better life" or for study abroad (deserters!), I've been going out with friends of friends. So I've been a party add-on for most of this year. But people have been kind enough to take in a drifter, a group extension, a loud and drunk one at that. And I am usually surprised to have such a spankin' good time. So I celebrated with a gazillion coco lychee drinks and heavily watered down cherry beer.

Some HC (hospitalityclub) people from Poland who had arrived in Manila a few days ago decided they wanted to join the fun but couldn't find the place. I was trying to communicate with them, and in my inebriated state kept fat-fingering my keypad. It was all good in the end, a super duper friend said we could take her car to pick them up. Hihi she was only a few drinks behind me after all.

Then it took a while for things to settle down as introductions needed to be made and new orders needed to be placed and people needed to get acquainted.

Got home at past 3, found my little sister at home and still awake. We haven't had a chance to talk since she moved out and it was good catching up with her from serious plans to the latest amazing race asia episode (Thegan know the rock climbing couple that just got eliminated). Yeah we knew which topics needed to be discussed. Finally got to bed at half 4, swimming in and out of sleep and feeling the onset of a hangover headache, which has persisted all throughout yesterday and is dying a very slow and agonizing death today.

Christmas in Manila: Taking before giving

2006-11-17T20:45:00.000+08:00

Christmas preparations start at least 2 months before, well, christmas. Cops have become more vigilant in harassing traffic violators, for their "christmas collections". I've been hearing about a lot of mugging incidents lately, more rampant than usual. Just last week, my former professor in German was riding a bus from Laguna to Makati. Just as she was about to disembark at Ayala, four gunmen got on and started waving their weapons wildly and gesturing that everyone hand over all their valuables. My professor had 8k on her and she managed to slip 5k in her shoe unnoticed. She handed over the 3k and her cellphone. I consider hiding that money a brave thing, although if she had gotten caught and shot and killed because of it, most people would say it was stupid. After collecting everything there was to collect, one of the gunmen instructed the bus driver to take them to Cubao, where the thieves finally took their leave. No one was killed. My professor took a cab back to Makati because she had a class waiting.

Also I've been hearing reports of lone passengers hailing cabs and upon getting in, the driver asks them to move to the center "to distribute the weight evenly". The passenger, probably tired and absent minded, complies. When the cabbie stops at a dimly lit corner or a traffic light, two people appear out of nowhere and get in on either side, flanking the passenger, leaving no room for escape. They take what they can and drop the poor passenger off somewhere, sometimes giving him just enough money to get home, if they feel that they've gotten enough cash. Compassionate bastards.

If you haven't got enough cash on you, then they drive around till they come across a cash machine and instruct the victim to clean out the account.

This is very worrying considering I ride cabs all the time.

Keep your eyes peeled people. Buy pepper spray or something. And look poor. I don't know.

Regularization, part II

2006-11-15T12:14:00.000+08:00

So I signed the papers. According to my supervisor, I will not be moved to the other department. Basically whatever I trained one whole week for means absolutely nothing. I said as much to him and he was quite unbothered by my insinuation of the training's futility and the company's inefficiency. He simply said yes. I suppose living a life of ineptitude and earning a fat salary leaves one complacent and indifferent to anyone else's concerns. I'm kind of depressed about it because it was really interesting and promised career growth. I'm not very big on career development anyway but if the opportunity is there, I wouldn't mind a piece of it. Hence the kind of depression. And it is beginning to look like there is nowhere else to go but laterally in the company.

I am going to plan an escape in 2007.

A bet on Borat

2006-11-12T10:40:00.000+08:00

Earlier this week, at work and in training but on a coffee break, J and I were communicating via text and our conversation went something like this:

J: Hey! Do you know about this Borat movie that's showing right now? It looks hilarious, let's watch it!
Me: Of COURSE I know about it, I've known about it for ages (I think I communicated eye-rolling effectively)
J: I think it's by the same guy who did Ali G, Sacha something...
Me: Nonono it's by a British comedian who's only pretending to be Kazakhstani.
J: Yeah exactly, he did Ali G too. I bet you!
Me: Ali G's a real person. 500 pesos says you're wrong.
J: You're on! I know it's him, I'm going to check online later.
Me: Haha you just lost yourself 500 pesos.
J: I'll be the judge of that.

I got back to my desk after break and started my Borat research. It took less than a minute to realize that I was a BIG idiot. And that I lost a bet yet again. I have never won a bet on anything but I keep doing it anyway. I really thought I was right.

Damn you Sacha!

A plug: The Waste Trading Markets

2006-11-12T10:13:00.000+08:00

Just passing it on.

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THE WASTE-TRADING MARKETS

Every first Friday of the month at the Gold Crest Car Park, Ayala Center (along Arnaiz Ave. Makati )
Every third Friday of the month at the Alabang Town Center (Alabang - Zapote Rd )

WHAT THE WASTE MARKETS OFFER

Trade scrap paper for new (office/ mimeo) paper!
Trade used ink cartridges for new!
Sell your electronic waste (junk computers) and old / broken appliances
Sell your used lead acid batteries
Redeem the following for cash: PET plastic bottles and other plastics, aluminum/tin cans, scrap glass

Drop-off points also provided for junk cell phones / cell phone batteries / styrofoam

The Waste Markets aim to make recycling convenient and accessible, especially for those who frequent commercial shopping areas, and also to show that Filipinos CAN make recycling a habit!

Please help spread the word and forward this announcement to friends, family and colleagues.
For more information, contact Nancy Pilien at the Philippine Business for the Environment, telephone: 6352650.

Thank you!

Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE)
2F DAP Bldg., San Miguel Ave, Ortigas Center Pasig City
Tel: (632) 635 3670, (632) 635 2650 to 51
Fax: (632) 631 5714
Mobile: 0917 4059265
Email: ctem@csi.com.ph
Website: www.pbe.org.ph, www.iem.net.ph

RevoStyler

2006-11-09T09:17:00.001+08:00

So my mom got herself a RevoStyler, the Amazing Rotating Hairbrush. She showed it to me this morning. I guess she saw me struggling with my tangled hair and decided to put me out of my misery. I wasn't really struggling with it, I think she was more afraid that I was going to go out looking the way I did. I fully intended to, in any case.

The brush is actually quite good but it takes a while to get the hang of it. I've seen the infomercial and have always wanted one. Infomercials have this mesmerizing power over me and I always feel compelled to buy whatever product they're selling, from car engine coolants (I don't have a car, but I rationalize that I can always give it as a gift) to black ant extract (potency for men, I was afraid I was frigid at one point but I realized much later on that a lot of the girls I knew were just loo-- erm, liberal hihihi) to magic ironing boards (I don't even do my laundry). I even get sold on the "if you call within the first 30 minutes you get this special cap/tshirt/another one for free" deal. I especially love them badly dubbed and poorly subtitled. The best is when they're endorsing breast enhancing products and the TV people put a floating flower where the model's nipple should be so as not to offend viewers. And each time she moves, the flower follows. It's absolutely hilarious.

The RevoStyler has got this amazing anti-tangle feature, where it stops automatically whenever great big clumps of hair get stuck and basically this feature stops the brush from rotating and keeps it from ripping your hair at the roots. Makes a horrible sound though. I never saw those TV girls struggle with the product though, and that disappointed me a little bit. Anyway, my hair did come out shiny in the end although I suspect the brush succeeded by tearing out all the dull ones. But whatever gives the desired effect right?

Regularization

2006-11-08T13:51:00.000+08:00

I've been working at this job for 6 months now and I was called up to HR yesterday to sign the regularization papers. I haven't yet because I'm unsure about where this training is taking me. It's completely different from what I'm doing now, the only thing that links them two tasks is that some of the contracts that are covered in this training are in French and they need someone who will be able to understand them (little do they know that business French is a real bitch and is a different language really). But it's quite exciting in that tediously boring way. I've seen my dad and his colleagues get like that after dinner and it's usually best to take a French leave, because they wouldn't notice anyway.

Okay I'll have to continue this later, I'm already a minute late for my meeting. Your fault for getting me all chatty.

Training

2006-11-06T09:39:00.000+08:00

The higher ups have decided to put me in training. I'm on a temporary work schedule at the moment, I have been starting work at 9 in the morning since last Thursday and will continue to do so till Friday of this week. All I can say is, I hate morning traffic with a passion. Well I was more resigned to it today, I think I'm adjusting well to it really. It only took me 2 hours to get to work today after all. Precious precious time. Anyway none of my immediate superiors seem to know what's going on, they told me I was training for one thing but so far we've been learning about something entirely different. It is quite interesting but definitely not a preferred topic of conversation when you're chatting up a hottie at a club on Saturday night. Not that that happened to me last weekend, I actually had a clubbing night of unimaginable horror. Very upsetting and I wish to never speak of it ever again.

This can't be a comprehensive post as my training schedule today starts at 10 and I need to at least pretend I'm looking at my translation files for the day. It's piling up and I'm not even the slightest bit concerned about it. I'll probably end up working overtime a couple of nights this week but it is all worth it after seeing the worried look that appears on my incompetent supervisor's face each time he sees me leaving my desk to go to training. Yeah that's right, that's your problem isn't it? Mwahaha.

Fake coins!

2006-11-01T17:43:00.000+08:00

Unlike most of the nation, I am not in a cemetery lighting candles today. I went to work a little after lunch with a hangover headache. Anyway I only worked for 3 hours or something silly like that and I am back home now.

I'm a little late with this but I just found out today when one of my workmates showed me a couple of fake 10 peso coins. They look exactly like real ones and the only way of telling them apart is with the use of a magnet. I suppose any regular magnet will do, and I've decided to take one of the refrigerator magnets with me whenever I go out. Paranoid, right? Hell yeah. I don't even want to buy anything now and risk getting fake money in change. Anyway what you do is, you take your coin of questionable authenticity and then touch it with the magnet. If it sticks, then it's fake. Real ones don't get attracted to the magnet. Apparently there's a shitload of fake 5 and 10 peso coins floating around the country. And if you should be unfortunate enough to have fake coins on you, you have to surrender those to the proper authorities. I suppose going to a bank would be the thing to do. BSP's going to try to take all the phoney ones out of circulation. It's absolutely crazy, here are two links that have more to say about it.

The News Today article

PDI article

Halloween

2006-10-31T20:17:00.000+08:00

I am at work now but will be out and about in less than an hour yay! Then I'm going to a halloween party yay! Only things that dampen my spirits right now are my baby hairs. No matter how long I stand in front of a mirror and despite my best efforts at staring them down, they remain defiantly upright. Stubborn little fuckers. They shall meet the business end of my tweezers tomorrow.

Volleyball and beer

2006-10-29T14:25:00.001+08:00

I am in a lot of muscle pain right now. I made it to our company volleyball tournament last night. I was in our white team attire, the official sports jersey of extremely heavy fabric and short shorts with a basketball logo on it. I wore shoes that matched my outfit horribly, a mistake I'll be sure to avoid next Saturday. Volleyball is my most favorite sport to play and I played quite a lot of it in highschool. I was, in fact, obsessed. But after I graduated, I just didn't seem to have the time for it anymore. I took it up one semester in university but that wasn't proper playing, the professor always reminded us to give the guys a wide berth because we just might "get hurt". So for the duration of our sessions, I mostly fantasized about slamming a ball in her sexist face. I never got the chance but anyway, I've had time to get over that.

We played 3 intense sets. Our team lost the first set, then won the second. I was getting very tired and sore (in the muscular sense) in the middle of the second set, I was so out of shape. Well to be fair, I don't go to the gym and the only exercise I get is from walking. Anyway the third set was agonizingly long, the closer we got to 25, the more difficult it was to score each succeeding point. And each one was countered by our opponents. They were good, damn them. In the end, we had 23 on the board and the other team had 24. One of our guys was up for service. He'd been racking up points for us, but I guess he lost steam because his ball met the net and that ended the game for us. My service had been very inconsistent throughout the game, so I wasn't about to blame him. We lost. But it sure was a lot of fun haha. I'm actually looking forward to the next game.

After that, I needed to relax and unwind before heading home and a friend suggested we meet in Beers Paradise.

Beers Paradise is located on Polaris Street, close to Makati Ave and Jupiter. It's a bit in the dodgy part of Makati, well it is in the P. Burgos area after all, very red-lighty area, and just down the block from that infamous Handlebar, er, bar. But if you're looking for fun with the DOMs, by all means Handle is a prime requisite. Well maybe Ermita is. Or Café Havana. IIII wouldn't know. Oh dear now I've made a mess.

Hastily moving on, I just tried accessing that url listed below the telephone numbers, and have found that it doesn't exist. Hm. The bar boasts 100 kinds of beers (sic) but regulars complain that a lot of those are not actually available. That may disappoint some but not me, the place is clean and I was surprised that it wasn't at all seedy, considering its location and there was none of that greasy food smell that sticks to you, long after you've left the place. Their beers are quite pricey, but then they are imported so that's to be expected. The staff were very friendly and pleasant, definitely made it easy for my friends and I to just kick back with our beers and have an hours-long conversation.

I'm not a big fan of any kind of beer, I don't go out of my way to look for it but I have had beer that I actually drank all of. So I started with a Cherry Kriek, very sweet and cherry-ish (of course), almost not a beer really but it brought back memories of Belgium and Amsterdam where I had my first taste of it. I took to it so much that I bought myself a six pack when I found it in a supermarket in Brugge, and polished off every single one on the train to Amsterdam. It was a very pleasant ride indeed.

I only had one more after that, also a Kriek but the St. Louis one. I forget that beer makes you feel bloated and full very quickly. It also made me feel heavy and tired, probably from all the volleyball action I had earlier that evening. So we called it a night at a very reasonable hour and I was home by 1 am.

Today, I haven't done much except to spend time online, listen to Fantaschtischen 4 (who are good) and drink my Coke. Pressing priority is to see about getting a massage, I'm in so much paaaain.

Working on a holiday and half a job rant

2006-10-24T13:53:00.000+08:00

I like working on holidays. Well sort of. Ok maybe not really. But I can work for 2 hours instead of the full work day if I so desired. It's quiet and lunch is free which is nice (and greasy). But I think the company's cost cutting because it feels like none of the airconditioners are switched on. It's really really hot! Well okay I think one's on just now but it's so not enough. So I'm probably going to take off within the hour and go to the lovely cafe down the road with its free internet connection and have some of its cold cold drinks and lounge in its cold cold interiors.

A book: Streetwise French Dictionary / Thesaurus

2006-10-24T00:26:00.000+08:00

I bought this over the weekend and started reading it straight away. So far, so good. This is my first slang dictionary and it's exciting. I don't know why it's taken me this long to develop a proper interest in the language, considering the fact that I studied it in university. I can't remember exactly what I was so preoccupied with. It certainly wasn't French studying. Better late than never, I suppose. I'm finally going to understand those damn expressions with animals in them but almost never involving any.

Saturday and the first of its series job rant

2006-10-23T12:11:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday after German class, I met up with some friends and we went to Salcedo market for lunch. Whilst looking for food and a table, I slammed my face into a metal post. I spent several minutes with my icy drink pressed against my cheek where a red mark was beginning to develop. My friends said it looked like I was trying to drink through the top of my head. Hmph. It only hurts a little when I press down on it now. I think my ego was lot more bruised.

That night we had dinner and went dancing at Government. Loads of fun, (it was Madonna night and they played Like a Prayer!) but my friends and I had to stand outside the club for over an hour because my guy messed up the list we were on and we had to wait till he sorted things out. It was horrible. It was worse than trying to get into Embassy and it's never my idea go there.

----

Our company is currently having a sportsfest. Our team already won the men's basketball tournament. Last Saturday was the first round for the volleyball games. We won it but since the rules say that there should be 3 men and 3 women, we lost that round. Everyone's kind of wondering why I didn't show up on account of period cramps. Granted I went out that same night after the worst was over but it's not like a million pesos is at stake here or anything and I wasn't the only girl who could have played. And while we're on the subject, the GC that I was supposed to get for that design I made that placed third, well, I still haven't gotten it. So I quickly lost motivation to participate in any of the games. I'm also a little annoyed at the fact that I'm getting asked to do translation for Italian, German, Spanish and even Thai, which doesn't use the Latin alphabet so I can't even begin to make sense of that. Sure I can probably work on the Spanish and German translations, there are loads of available resources online and I am a resourceful girl. But that's not the point. First of all, there are translators for all these other languages. Most people decide to come to me just because the respective translator has taken the day off or their desk is too far away. I'm sure they're thinking oh she's a translator, maybe she can do this for me. At first I used to feel bad about it like oh I'm not helping out, I'm not a good employee etc, but it's happened enough times and even as I'm saying no sorry I can't help you, I don't know that language, they ignore me and say well have a look at it anyway and tell me what you make of it. And then when I repeat myself, they look shocked and at times, and this really gets my goat, hurt. It's really begun to irritate me to the point where I can't help myself and point out to them (and not very gently) that my job description covers only French translations. Hopefully that'll learn most of them because I don't like being rude, even when it seems to be the only way to get my point across.

Films: The Castle, The Experiment

2006-10-20T13:10:00.000+08:00

The Castle
Directed by Rob Stich, stars Michael Caton as the main guy (the dad).

This came out a long time ago (1997 I think) but I didn't hear about it till Donny forced us to watch it to "learn more about Australians". If you liked Napoleon Dynamite, you might like this. It's a lot more painful. Hehe. I'd definitely watch it again, given the chance.

Highlights: A young Eric Bana. The entire Kerrigan family really.

The Experiment
Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, stars Moritz Bleibtreu (he was in Run Lola Run) and other negligible people.

German film, came out early 2000 maybe. Reminds one of The Cube but a bit more intense. I had to remind myself to breathe during the more suspense-filled bits. It really keeps you on edge. The presence of a love interest served absolutely no purpose but to confuse. Forgivable.

Highlights: Moritz Bleibtreu hardly wears anything in this film. Yes, that's it.

Light bulb moment and Cleopatra

2006-10-20T09:22:00.000+08:00

Aha, I can't post videos here from YouTube because I switched to beta and they haven't sorted that out. They could have told me that earlier on. Anyway I thought Google bought YouTube. So what's up with that? Tch slow slow.

Anyway it won't be the same but this here is a link to the video I've been struggling to put here. Ghita is a song by 3 year old Cleopatra Stratan. According to my friend, the girl is singing about waiting for a guy named Ghita. I don't normally like children but she's adorable. And from Romania. Any country who comes up with a song like the numanumaei (Dragostea din tei) is okay in my book. Hehe. Heh. Hey come on, it's funny.

Traveller Dainius Kinderis

2006-10-19T20:00:00.000+08:00

I know Dainius from Hospitality Club (HC). It's a site that brings people from all over the world with similar ideas about travelling together. It works like this: Traveller 1 (the guest) is going on a trip, he gets on the HC site, starts looking and talking to members living in the place where he is going to, finds Traveller 2 (the host) who is willing to host him for free (that's the spirit of HC). Traveller 1 arrives, meets up with Traveller 2 and they have a grand old time. It's very good. I've been a member for a number of years now and have used the site from time to time. It's really good and educational and the members I've met, through being a host as well as a guest, are friendly and very helpful. It's a different experience when you've got a local showing you around. Anyway, I hosted Dainius here a couple of years back when he went around the Philippines and he stopped by Manila for a bit. He was travelling a lot before I met him and he's been at it ever since! I heard from him recently and discovered that he's starting a trip to Africa. He's got a site documenting his progress and all. Check it out when you've got time: Africa4corners.

Blogging YouTube videos

2006-10-19T19:44:00.000+08:00

I've been having trouble trying to blog YouTube videos. All day. It's really frustrating, and I was so excited about this video I wanted to put here. Harrumph.

Lull

2006-10-17T20:48:00.000+08:00

I've been lazy, folks. Sorry I've been...well I don't want to say depressed because that's not accurate. Moody, more like. I'll be back and chatty soon. Maybe even in a few hours, who knows when the swinging will stop.

Melbourne: 9 days of holiday

2006-10-10T00:02:00.000+08:00

Overdue post:

Day one. Arrived in Melbourne airport an hour delayed. Also the Wedding Day but we had enough time to claim our baggage and hail a cab (I made the mistake of trying to get in the driver's side) and get freshened up. Lots of smiling and posing and photomagraphing. Lunch at a swish resto nearby. Spent most of the day confused and disoriented with the new environment, meeting so many new people straight away and having another sister married off. Lots to process but was too fatigued to do anything but nod and keep my eyes open. Good food, lots of wine, lots of champagne. Went back to the apartment to take a nice long nap.

After dinner, I went for a walk on the beach with Thegan and a still very drunk Donny.

Day two. Parents flew out early morning (they arrived a week ahead of us). Drove on over to Waterfront City to see the Da Vinci exhibition. Brilliant man, brilliant exhibition. Ate fast food, average price is 7 dollars (36 pesos to 1 Australian dollar at the moment, I think). Discovered that food portions are huuuuge and that they call ketchup 'tomahto sauce' down under. Drove up to Donny's mum's house just outside the city and their friends were there for a rugby final but the Melbourne Storm lost...to Brisbane something I think, can't remember what their team is called. During the match, the male half of Thegan (you should know by now that I refer to my younger sister and brother-in-law in the collective) and I found ourselves deep in conversation with this guy who inundated our heads with Australian wildlife info. Both humbling and dismaying to realize I knew jack shit about it.

Day three. Long drive to the Great Ocean Road with stops along the way and back home. Spectacular view. Thegan slept through most of the ride. Froze our asses off, as I have mentioned in a previous post. Marvelled at the very efficient road system. Incredible day. It should look spectacular, only my cam phone is atrocious.

Day four. Big tourist day for Thegan and I. Also known as the hottest day ever, all 30 degrees of it. But I put on the warmest clothes on earth because the day before traumatized me. It was boiling hot. At least it was windy sometimes. Went to the Shrine of Remembrance. Got on the tourist shuttle bus (free), fun until loads of annoying tourists got on. It got amusing when some kids started bickering. Tried to set myself apart from all the others, but it's pointless when you're on a tourist bus. Went around once then got off at Melbourne Museum (entrance 6 bucks only). I would totally go back to that place, definitely worth another look. Then got on the City Circle Tram, slowest tram on earth but it was free and looks really cool when other people get on it. Found an incredible curry place on Flinders Street or Lane (street signs are very similar to each other) and had a 9 dollar lamb biryani that could serve a small battalion.

Day five. Started the day on my own, which means a late start really. But I was on holiday after all, so back off hihi. Successfully deciphered the public transport system. Went to NGV (free, except for special exhibitions), very nice place. Went to the park to get some reading done, but it was freezer cold, spoiling my attempts at a Melburnian thing. Hmph. The wind was howling too so I decided to do more walking around instead, to keep my blood from coagulating. Tried going to Fed Square but it drizzled and I got even colder so I went back to the apartment, sat dangerously close to the radiator (smelled singed hair at one point) and, as soon as I was warm and toasty, promptly fell asleep. Met my sister at the public library (apart from getting off one stop early, I got there on my own again!) and borrowed books.

Day six.

...

Hm.

For the life of me, I cannot remember what transpired on this day.

Day seven. Drawing a complete blank on what happened during the day but in the evening we went on a major bar/club crawl. New places are fun. Alcohol is not as expensive as I expected (a regular sized beer and a glass of champagne can be had for 5 dollars, mixed drinks as much as 12) and several cool places that did not charge entrance as I had thought (one place we went to charged 10 dollars for guys but free entry to girls, possibly because the place was in dire need of women, dj was terrible though, maybe that's why). Verdict: Excellent nightlife!

Day eight. Old Melbourne Gaol. Grateful to discover online that the night tour was fully booked. It was a warm and lovely day. We were all very spooked by the coldness of the place, but especially so by the numerous death masks littered around the place. This photo is too nice to have been taken by either me or my phone.

Day nine. Up at 5 am for a 7:25 flight. PAL was unreliable as usual, the plane didn't take off till nearly 10. Stuck in Sydney airport for a couple of hours as well. Both times for 'maintenance and servicing'. Dunno what that means, but taking off and landing filled me with a lot of fear. Didn't start taxiing till well past 12:30 and everyone was starving. Uneventful flight, the cabin crew people were very efficient. Arrived in Manila at least 3 hours later than scheduled. Exhausted to the bone.

----

Things and places of note but I can't remember on which day they were seen/observed:

- Victoria Market (lots to see, lots to buy)
- ACMI (Australian Center for the Moving Image)
- People are called Steve-O or Kev-O. Well only those that are called either Steve or Kevin. You know what I mean. They do that to objects too, like barbie for barbecue or footy (maybe footie) for football.

- Fed Square (banged on drums with an amazing group of African musicians + white girl and random people from the crowd, ended up with very purple fingers)

- Lots of funny and very painful to watch TV commercials.

- Redundant doors (doors leading to doors leading to the actual room you mean to be in)

- Several bathrooms come equipped with boxes for used syringes (I guess if you can't beat 'em, at least make sure they clean up after themselves)

I'm sure there's more I wanted to write, but I can't be bothered to remember now.

- Oh yeah, and the water does drain the other way. I want to know why.

Books read recently

2006-10-09T16:26:00.000+08:00

Got loads of reading done while in Oz:

Utterly Monkey by Nick Laird

I liked the writing and the story was nicely told but I couldn't warm up to the characters properly. Set in the UK and Northern Ireland (I think, can't really remember now).

4.2 chrismiss stars

Animal Farm by George Orwell

I don't know why I haven't read this before. I give it 5 red-hot and sparkling chrismiss stars. It's thought-provoking but adorable first.

5 chrismiss stars yay!

The Sandman Volume 5: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman is amazing, as usual, although I still maintain Smoke and Mirrors as my favorite but then I haven't read all of his works. But I do love the pretty pictures.

5 chrismiss stars

Lady Snowblood Volume 3 by Kazuo Koike

Hot japanese female assassin, born for the purpose of avenging her mother's death by killing her (mother's) sworn enemies. I've been dying to read her story for as long as I can remember. They're always in Japanese when I come across copies in restos and beach resorts here. I don't know why it never occurred to me to check the local bookstores. It just made me want to learn Japanese.

Did I mention that I like pretty pictures accompanying amazing stories? A whopping 5 chrismiss stars.

The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith

Big disappointment since I loved White Teeth and On Beauty. Couldn't stand the protagonist, Alex-Li Tandem. Just like I couldn't stand JD Salinger's Holden Caulfield. Smith still writes well and to be fair, I speed-read the thing because I was running out of time, so I give it:

2.7 chrismiss stars

Back from a short holiday

2006-10-09T13:04:00.000+08:00

Am back in Manila. Must now work to make money. Going through 3 feet of paperwork right now. Huhuhuhu poor me. Adventure stories to follow shortly.

Drive on the left

2006-10-03T07:21:00.000+08:00

Good thing drivers here in Melbourne follow road regulations, otherwise I'd have been run over by now. I keep forgetting that cars come from the right when I'm crossing the street. It's a bit unnerving.

Arrived last Saturday, flight was an hour delayed but we had enough time to get freshened up before heading to the wedding. Aside from a little cab situation (loads of people turned up in the city for the weekend because of a big football final), everything went smoothly.

Have done a little bit of touring so far. Last night we got back from a long drive on the Great Ocean Road to see lovely things like the 12 Apostles. Saw lots of cows and sheep and a glimpse of a wallaby. We stood on the edge of the cliff and I'm pretty sure I saw Antarctica from where we were standing. Hihi. Breathtaking view, it was windy and cloudy as well so our faces stung from the cold. Even my teeth hurt. Yeah one thing I noticed here is that the weather can be very tricky. Slowly getting used to it though. Over the weekend we went to see an exhibition featuring Da Vinci's inventions which was on-going when we arrived. Brilliant man. I plan to visit the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) to see more arty stuff.

Food portions are huge and I already ask for the kiddie sized ones. Cigarettes are very expensive.

Will be back soon with more to write.

Super Typhoon!

2006-09-28T08:44:00.000+08:00

It was sunny all week! Why storm now?! Curse you, Milenyo/Xangsane! Ack, trusty PAGASA is down!

Ooh Japan Meteorology Agency has nice colored pictures with rings. Pretty. Useful weather info on the Typhoon2000 site.

Thegan (my sister + brother-in-law) and I are supposed to fly out tomorrow night. Aaargh the suspense!

But oh, we can come to work in jeans. Yay.

Oh and if Milenyo continues on its path, then Manila should be back to normal by tomorrow afternoon. Phew. But IF.

Whoa something large and heavy just thudded on our neighbor's roof! I'm supposed to come to work in this weather?! What is this?!

Oh I can't stand this emotional rollercoaster!

UPDATE I (a few minutes later, maybe 930H)
I ventured out in my jammies to check how the roads in the immediate area are. It was drizzling oh-so-slightly. The neighbor's dogs were eerily silent. Hehe they're probably scared shitless, snivelling furballs. Serves them right, they terrorize everybody else on any other day. That's right, I don't like dogs. Can't stand them, they ate my pet rabbit when I was 6.

But then during breakfast, more objects fell on our's and our neighbors' rooves. It's gotten really windy now and it's raining a lot harder. I watched some news and discovered that several provinces are flooded and many of the main roads deemed impassable!

Power cut!

Hmm maybe it is too dangerous to go to work today after all.

---

UPDATE II (1216H)
This is the second time I've come to work soaking wet. This is the first time I've ever gone out in weather this bad. Felled trees along the way, flying corrugated iron sheets, lamp posts broken and weighing down on telelphone lines, it's not even funny.I actually feared for my life. I can't remember the number of trees I saw scattered in the middle of the road (I have a picture! Will upload that when I have the chance). On C5, on Kalayaan Avenue, everywhere we drove past. One car had the misfortune of having a tree smash into its windshield. Mum actually rang me from Melbourne to ask about the weather and if there's a chance our flight tomorrow will be cancelled. I may have to crash at Thegan's tonight, they live only a few blocks away.

Now they're moving us to a different section of the office, because there's a dangerously swaying large iron sheet on the rooftop of the building next to us.

UPDATE III (a few more minutes later)
We just had a meeting. We are now free to go home. It's prolly safer for me to hang out here for a while. Typhoon is expected to really hit later this afternoon. But it's coming down now and it's coming down hard.

UPDATE IV (1240H)
My colleagues and I have been looking at the situation outside. We just saw iron sheets fly off like paper from a pile on the rooftop of another building and nearly hit a car down below. A large piece of tree was moving up on Paseo. Power cuts everywhere and people texting us that billboards on EDSA have been ripped off by heavy winds. This storm means business. Traffic down below has begun to pile up because of debris.

Hehe no one's working.

UPDATE V (1256H)
Our building is swaying. I'm scared. We have to shut down our computers now.

UPDATE VI (1346H)
Back in the office. We were instructed to descend to the lobby and hang about. Hairboy and I occupied our time by chatting to other stranded employees, having a cigarette in a suffocating room because the vent fans weren't working and looking for provisions. Our shared spoils include peanuts, a cloud 9 bar and soda. The skies look relatively clearer now. The eye of the storm must be nearing Makati. Phew. That was an adventure. Now the challenge is getting home through the floods. Some brave souls have decided to head on home. I think I'll hang around for a bit until I find a phone charger.

LAST UPDATE (1410H)
Winds are picking up again in the south, it'll prolly get crazy again in the next hour or so but forecast says Milenyo's still moving northwest and it's expected to be in Zambales by tomorrow evening.

Btw Jax, your precious Sam Milby's billboard just killed someone: Falling billboard kills driver

Okay I really have to work now.

----

A VERY LATE PHOTO UPDATE 9 Oct 2006, 2257h

I was trying to get to work but this huge tree was in the way and some bystanders were dissuading me from moving on because the winds might whip the tree backwards and smack me.

Along Paseo, on my way home from work. This was around 5 PM.

The entrance to our subdivision.

Other places in Metro Manila:

Metronaps

2006-09-25T17:22:00.000+08:00

I so want one of these right now.

Powernap in style. Only 14 US dollars for 20 gloriously uninterrupted minutes.

http://www.metronaps.com/

UNGA Speeches of Note

2006-09-22T13:37:00.000+08:00

Two really good ones so far: President Ahmadinejad said very harsh things against US policy, basically calling President Bush a warmonger, while President Chavez called the US President the devil himself (haha!). Not stopping there, he also called him an alcoholic and a sick man. Yeah! Hihihi!

Get in on the action! Read the speeches by President Ahmadinejad and President Chavez!

President Bush said he wanted better relations with Iran. Yet he won't agree to a live debate with the Iranian president to establish a dialogue. Because he knows very well he'll get clobbered in a debate. Something that can be easily adjusted by the media, so I really don't see what the big deal is. Anyway, didn't he say years ago that Iran was part of the "axis of evil"? Now he wants to be friends. What's that about? Also, the US government said that President Chavez who is "a close ally of Iran, Syria and Cuba, would be a disruptive force on the council". Hehe pretty soon the US government will be saying that Americans are the only people who want peace. Yes, the Iraqis and the Lebanese know all about it.

Dharma at 70s Bistro

2006-09-21T16:03:00.000+08:00

I met up with some friends at 70s Bistro last night. Up Dharma Down was playing. I've seen them perform several times, they're quite good, strong vocals, solid band. I keep meaning to get a copy of their songs but I'm always out with very little cash. I haven't had to walk home though, fortunately, but there is always a first time. They release their stuff under the label Terno Recordings and they also have a page on myspace.

I haven't been to 70s for years and the place has changed very little since I was last there. Still nice and cozy although I wish there were better restroom conditions. But anyway peeing comfortably is not what one is meant to be doing there. We ordered a plate of hotdog and onions to complement our evening. I don't normally go out of my way to eat hotdogs (save for the occasional Sabrett indulgence) but I have to say, hotdog slices doused in barbecue sauce is a very delicious dish! Hihi.

Did a little bit of net research and, to my surprise, they have a website. Well, sort of. See it: http://www.70sbistro.com/. I'm not sure if I understood correctly, but I think bands perform only until midnight because some of the residents in the area have complained about the noise. I think the bar stays open till after that time though as there were still people hanging around when we left.

70s Bistro is located on Anonas Street in Quezon City.

Who killed Tiesto?

2006-09-21T12:26:00.000+08:00

I was in my bed last night, getting ready to sleep when I received a text message saying that Tiesto had just been in a car crash and died from severe head injuries. I felt sick to my stomach but thankfully a friend was still online at the time and was able to check whether any of it was true.

Well. It's NOT TRUE. But you've got stupid ass sites stating otherwise.

Dj Tiesto was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics responding to the accident. Highway Safety Investigators have told reporters that Dj Tiesto lost control while driving a friend's vehicle on Interstate 80 and rolled the vehicle several times killing him instantly.

To read more of this crap, go here.

They even have a picture of the car and everything.

Lying bastards.

Hump

2006-09-19T12:44:00.000+08:00

These are only two of the many people who are angry with the pope.

Now I really want to know what Hump of Islam means...

Seriously though, people need to CHILL OUT.

I got this from Israellycool's The First Annual Muslim Protest Awards post. It's funny.

The Pope and a few trivial matters

2006-09-18T17:26:00.000+08:00

The pope's comments last week have been on the news since he made them and have been discussed and analyzed all weekend. I thought a week of coverage would be sufficient but nooooo, it's still on the news today. Ugh. I also ran out of work so I was left to do online research I've been putting off for weeks. I was productive for about half an hour until I got distracted by random reading. But I soon tired of that too. So for the past hour, I've been organizing my yahoo mail into folders. I nearly cried, it was so boring.

Last Saturday was really good. I got a lot of important shopping done, namely the dress I'm supposed to wear for the wedding. I was pretty sure it wouldn't keep me warm during the wedding so I also bought a jumper. Only the jumper isn't very warm either. It's just kind of ugly and frumpy, but in kind of a cool way. Or in a chris-thinks-it's-cool-she's-such-a-spaz way. Let's not be specific. Come to think of it, it doesn't really match the dress either. Well I'll just have to freeze for a few hours then. Oh the price of vanity.

Aaaanyway, I still maintain that Saturday was a good day. I got that shopping done in an hour. I had a lot of time free, so a friend and I went to a karaoke bar hihi. And then to a another despedida party. But as the night progressed, I got paranoid and had to go home by midnight.

So many

2006-09-15T12:02:00.000+08:00

I've stayed out too many times this week, I still get enough sleep at night since I don't work till noon but I'm so tired. So many despedida parties I've attended since late last year, people are leaving the country. Oh we're in such a state.

More importantly, I still don't have a dress for the wedding. It's okay, I still have two weeks. Hm.

Normal, relatively

2006-09-11T22:55:00.000+08:00

The brits left Manila last Sunday. We had a crazy Saturday night, their last party night. It was insane, no one else showed up, either they had already made plans or were daunted by the storm that was raging. But the three of us weren't deterred at all; we were determined to have our drunk night. We spent hours in Tbar (real name Tiananmen Bar & Resto but it's too long to say...and confusing since there is a bar that is actually called that but we refuse to change our ways). We started our evening with a series of shooters and long drinks and cocktails and funny conversation. After a couple of hours, we ordered hot soup which Char thought was a bad idea because it would sober us up. But Oli was soaked to the bone after a brief venture out in search of a cash point and had begun to shiver. We got a buzz going and decided to head on to Government a bit past midnight. It was only down the road but the rain was still doing its thing so we got a cab and got out again after 3 minutes. Hehe.

I knew the club had renovated a couple of months ago, but I haven't been there for nearly a year now and I was curious about the changes that were made. The registration table was outside, unlike before. Another new thing, they stamped our arms with cocks. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Most important change: prices had gone up. From the cover charge to the drinks, everything was more expensive but still affordable. They must still be paying for the newly installed cages and the flatscreen TV. They also added some fake looking chandeliers to the VIPish section on the balcony and spruced up the smoking room, but it's still suffocating if you stay too long. Oh and the bouncers had new uniforms. Otherwise the place looked relatively the same. Still poorly lit and a bit scummy. Char and I felt like we were coming home. Haha. One of the bouncers remembered us, that was a big surprise. Oli got hit on as planned and we met some random people, all friendly except for this one guy, huge and beefy, who looked like he wanted to murder Oli because the man's wife decided she wanted to be best friends with O and insisted on paying for our drinks. But we were so wasted by that time, it was past 4, we didn't want any more drinks. We were all danced out, well as much as one can be on a Mariah night, apparently the dj had just gone through a breakup and was being emo. Too much to smoke, too much to drink, we stumbled outside and went in search of chickenjoy. It was all we could think about. We spent ages in Jollibee, sobering up, fooling around, being really loud.

We finally decided it was time to call it a night. It was getting light out, the sun signalling the dawn of a new day, forcing us to feel fatigue we could no longer ignore. Together we stepped outside in the soft falling rain, stood waiting for our cabs and in unspoken agreement, kept our goodbyes brief and happy. Hugs, kisses, smiles. We parted ways.

I had a fantastic time. And spent all of Sunday in bed, smelling of cigarette smoke. Whoever came up with CSI Sunday was a genius.

Talk of interviews and visa approvals

2006-09-11T19:05:00.000+08:00

We are conducting more interviews tomorrow to find a suitable replacement for BLG (he's getting assigned to a different department). It's been slow-going. We started two weeks ago. One shows promise though, I hope she does well on the exam. We have two more to screen tomorrow.

I hope they find someone before the end of this month. I'll only be gone for a week but the work will definitely pile up and loads of files will be delayed. I actually couldn't care less; I'm going to Melbourne! It's my sister's wedding on the 30th. That's two sisters married off in one year. I wonder how my dad feels. Actually I do know. He said I can wait till next year to get married. Hehe funny man, yeah right. I am finally relieved of the not-so-quiet pressure of producing offspring and manipulative little devils pretending to be adorable tottering little grandchildren. My sisters can sort that out among themselves. I'm free.

My visa's valid for a year too. Woohoo. Such a brief visit but I'm looking forward to it. Even though I haven't a thing to wear yet.

I don't have a dress for the wedding. Grah it's just one after another, isn't it?

Fool in the rain

2006-09-09T00:50:00.000+08:00

Wet adventure earlier this evening! I had a big ass ham sandwich in the afternoon so when it came time for my dinner break, I still felt full. So instead I decided to go over to the park two blocks away and catch up on some reading. It was a pleasant walk from the office, the sky was clear, the air cool. There were a few noisy kids around, which I don't mind for two minutes tops, so finding the place where I would be least disturbed became a very serious task indeed. Realizing that all the best spots were already taken, I made a mental pout before resigning myself in one of the unoccupied benches. I had finished reading a couple of pages when I felt something damp pelt me on my shoulder. For one horrible second, I thought some bird was being cheeky. I was relieved to find that it was only a big fat raindrop. I can handle a little bit of rain. But then bigger and fatter drops followed. I got up to look for another place and found a bench with a tree providing a bit of shade.

It wasn't enough.

No sooner had I sat myself down on the bench than the deluge began. I sought shelter a few steps away and found myself with other unfortunate people, mostly joggers but there was this one odd fellow who reeked of alcohol and the entire time we were there, he looked like he was going to throw up. I felt so bad for him. It rained and lightninged and thundered so hard, it seemed like the sky was ripping itself apart.

It went on for an eternity. Well, when you're cramped in a tiny space with strangers who don't feel like making conversation, every second you spend wishing the rain would stop is a second too long. By this time, the little dry area that we were forced to share was being threatened. I had been due back at the office for 20 minutes already. I took a deep breath and heaved a great sigh at the same time and braved the storm. I was drenched in seconds.

You have to appreciate my lovely black and white art shot (hihi):

What did I tell you? Sheets. It was coming down in sheets.

Embarrassing to enter my building. The lobby was overflowing with stranded people, loads of them corporately dressed men and women waiting patiently for their cars. I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of the glass door. I cringed. My hair was plastered to my face, dark wet marks on my coat, I had my jeans rolled up to show my dripping shoes. They squished with each step I took. Basically if you take a shower and get dressed without towelling yourself dry and then go back because you forgot to rinse out the conditioner in your hair, you would look exactly like I did just then. I could feel the airconditioning numbing my limbs.

I was on my break for nearly two hours. Teehee. So much for the romantic bench reading idea.

Headed straight to the restroom to sort myself out. 15 minutes with the hand dryer did very little to help. I had to explain to about a hundred people why I looked the way I looked before I finally made it to my desk. The supervisor came over to say that I would have to put in extra time because I took so long to get back. I wanted to stab him in the neck with my pencil but I had lost all feeling in my fingers. He's in the right after all, the unfeeling bastard. For the next two hours, I sat at my desk with my toes frozen stiff and my teeth chattering.

I'm home now, all showered and in clean and, more importantly, dry clothes. Warm and toasty in bed. All is forgotten and I'm excited to dream.

Scared

2006-09-07T14:48:00.000+08:00

I scare very easily but I love horror stories. Once in highschool, my classmates and I were sharing ghost stories and when I grew too frightened, I had to cry to make them stop. I've gone inside a carnival haunted house, screaming myself hoarse and nearly peeing my pants in terror. And rendering my friend's boyfriend's shirt unwearable. I don't know why I love going to the cinema to watch gory films. And I really do watch too. I don't shut my eyes or put my hands on my ears. Instead I'll concentrate on the story and scream bloody murder throughout the entire thing.

Every couple of years I'll get these periods of morbid and intense curiosity about murderers and their shocking crimes. The unsolved cases are usually the worst simply because they are still out there. I find it absolutely riveting. I'll read in bed, just before I go to sleep. Don't ask me why. Sometimes there are pictures of the crime scenes. More often than not, there will be photos of the killer or suspect and of the victim usually looking really happy. I'll read about the events leading up to the grisly killings and I'll be terrified. And I can't stop. Gripping and suspenseful, I love it. I understand that it is somewhat of an unhealthy obsession but only now am I beginning to worry that it might be developing into a serious condition.

I've been reading about gruesome murders all this week and I had to force myself to stop reading yesterday because I've been having trouble sleeping. I've never suffered from insomnia but I'm completely spooked that I dread going to sleep. So I leave my light on and keep the television tuned in to something corny and funny. Last night, I nearly cried because I couldn't find a happy program. I was so upset. The channels I surfed through seemed to contain nothing but scenes of people killing and dying or engaging in violence of some sort.

Yes friends, I finally decided it was enough and have been trying to resume normalcy but I'm struggling. I've since occupied myself with reading about Japan's new baby boy, getting over my disappointment about Suri Cruise not looking like an alien baby (but wondering why she looks Asian), giggling over Paris Hilton getting refused entry to a club reducing her to tears (hihi), watching the interview with the Austrian teenager who was abducted when she was 10 and finally escaped after 8 years and being sad of the crocodile guy's death by stingray (Steve Irwin, you'll be missed!). I carefully avoided the newslink about the severed heads found in Mexico. But I'm so curious!

Yet none of them have been absorbing enough for me get over my irrational fear of getting hacked to pieces while I'm peeing. I normally walk to my stop after work and my usual route has been disturbed because I'm too petrified to walk past the poorly lit park. I think that there are way too many bushes in that area. I have to wash my face or rinse my hair of shampoo with my eyes open, enduring the stinging soap suds. I figure, better that than opening my eyes and having the little boy from The Grudge suddenly appear at my leg. That movie was, by far, the one that most affected me. I've never felt so violated by a storyline, I'm used to the horror movie formula where everything is pretty much dictated by a clear narrative. But damn, the ghosts in that movie cheated! Appearing in all sorts of places. You're supposed to haunt the general area of your death, not wander around and show up on buses or in stairwells. You have no business being there. I was so shaken afterwards when my friends and I left the cinema, we had moved off to one side so they could talk about it, that I was reduced to whimpering and rubbing the goosebumps off my arms. This lady appeared out of nowhere (to be fair, she was only walking past us) and sneezed! I was so rattled that I turned round and screamed obscenities at her. I apologized profusely when I realized what I had done and she walked away looking back at me like I was crazy. Huhuhuhuhu.

And now, I eagerly await The Black Dahlia because I'm familiar with the story. Huhu I still remember reading about how Elizabeth Short's body (pieces?) looked when it was found. Why do black and white photos look so much more sinister? I know it will be best if I refrain from seeing the film but I won't be able to resist.

Help me.

The Turkish delight

2006-09-04T20:13:00.000+08:00

BLG arrived from Istanbul last weekend and came to work bearing gifts. Turkish delights, locally called lokums, according to him. They're yummy! He had so many stories and it was lovely to hear about what he'd been up to. He absolutely loved the city and wished he'd had more time. Everything was perfect, he said, until his last night when, on his way back to his hotel, he ran into this dignified looking businessman who started chatting him up. They found they had a lot of things in common and even conversed in German, to BLG's delight. The businessman, Hassan his name was, invited him for a drink at a "family bar" he owned close by after regaling him with tales about his wife and four kids. BLG agreed since it was his last night anyway and he was having such a good time. So off they went to this charming neighborhood. Turns out the "family bar" was an underground nightclub. And Hassan didn't own it like he said. BLG started feeling confused and uncomfortable and thought of taking his leave when Hassan sat them down and started ordering all kinds of stuff. After a few minutes, BLG said it was getting late and that he had to go. As he was getting up to leave, the manager came over and showed him the bill. BLG said Hassan told him he was paying but Hassan denied it. BLG couldn't make a run for it because he was flanked with waiters, the manager and Hassan on all sides. It was all incredibly organized. He had no cash on him and they looked inside his wallet to confirm and found he had credit cards inside and told him to pay with one. Faced with no other option, he negotiated the price down (the bill was over 40k) with the little Turkish that he'd picked up during the week and they seemed delighted with him enough. Hassan agreed to pay for half of the bill. When they settled everything, Hassan walked him out to get him a cab.

BLG got back to his hotel, thankfully without incident, sat on his bed for a very long time trying to process what had just happened to him before finally going to sleep. He said that was the only thing horrible about his trip to Turkey. Then he talked about the lovely people he met there, which were pretty much everyone else.

So for those of you travelling to Istanbul anytime soon, stay away from "family bars". But do grab a box (or two) of those amazing Turkish delights.

Humbug

2006-09-01T16:21:00.000+08:00

Everyone in the Philippines knows that the Christmas season starts in September. Fondly and very unimaginatively referred to as the '-ber months' and one will definitely hear the statement "Berber na!" annoyingly followed by the useless "SeptemBERR OctoBERR NovemBERR DecemBERR", with emphatic relish on the ber syllable, as I have indicated by providing caps and letter doubling. I would have to say that they are, without a doubt, the most annoying statements ever to be recycled into existence annually. It's the first of September and already I have heard these two statements one too many times. I'm neither a very big fan of Christmas nor do I consider myself a bah humbugger (I quite like Carol of the Bells) but for crying out loud, we get it, berber very clever, alright already! Enough! It's not cute!

Who has heard a Christmas carol on the radio today? Let's have a show of hands.

Books: The Panda and its Parody

2006-08-31T15:59:00.000+08:00

BLG lent me another book before he left for Istanbul for a conference. It's this one on the left. I'm halfway through it and I don't want to read it anymore. I've been halfway through it for 2 days now, I'm trying my best to finish it but I just can't do it. I guess my best wasn't good enough huhuhu. When I'm not enjoying a book, I usually try to get to the end of it, just so I can say, "There I'm done and I think it's crap, I know because I suffered this monstrosity to its last word". And sometimes good endings make it all worthwhile. I'll never know if I don't keep reading. But I simply just can't do it with this one. It's horrific. When I have this book open, I keep checking how much further I have left to read and I just, well there's just no bloody end to it. I see myself reading nothing else for weeks, and the thought fills me with dread and anguish. It's a parody (see it written on the bottom bit of the cover) of this book on the right. This is the one I really wanted to read especially because BLG explained why its title is what it is, but he couldn't find it. He thinks he lent it to someone who never returned it. Yay I feel so much better now that I've decided to give up on it. I didn't realize I was being oppressed by this shite book.

Elevator stories #1: Elevator action

2006-08-30T00:01:00.000+08:00

Nono not the videogame, but now that I've mentioned it, wasn't that game amazing? Hehe I just came across a free download of it. I haven't decided if I want to risk installing it yet.

Anyway that reminds me of my minor mishap earlier this evening. I was coming back to work from my dinner break when I had a bit of a kerfuffle (hehe) stepping off the elevator and onto my floor. I had one foot on my floor and the other inside the elevator when I realized that I could no longer move forward. My right heel had unmistakably sunk into one of the little holes designing (badly, I have to say) the threshold. Not to worry though, I got out of that situation without shaming myself too much. Thankfully I was alone in the lift. Phew. Anyway I guess I retained an overdeveloped sense of respect for elevators from that scary incident when I was 10 (I got stuck between floors and had to force the elevator doors open before I could squeeze myself out), because I did not panic at all. That was surprising. Instead, I calmly placed my hand on one of the door sensors, pulled my right foot out of the stuck shoe, carefully placed two of my toes on either side of the heel base and made sure I had a firm grip before deftly dislodging the heel from the little hole. The guard had noticed my predicament and rushed over but I already managed to extricate my shoe and slip my foot back in it before he could get to me. I flashed him a smile and walked on, feeling triumphant.

That reminds me of this one very humiliating time, not too long ago, when my friends and I were on an escalator and my shoe got stuck at the bottom. I have this horrible habit of not stepping over the vicious teeth. The security guard had to stop the belt motor, steady me (I stood on one leg once we stopped moving), yank my shoe free AND hand it back to me. It was rather frightening. I imagined my foot getting chewed up while the belt fed the rest of my body in and then coming out at the other end all bloody and mangled. But the spectacle had gathered a small crowd of onlookers and I was too embarrassed to entertain such thoughts for too long. So I tried to laugh the whole matter off airily and continued walking in my damaged and misshapen shoe with as much dignity as I could muster.

Expired license

2006-08-29T19:16:00.000+08:00

Well. My driver's license has been expired for 2 years now. I went back to the LTO (land transportation office) this morning. Some nice lady explained everything slowly. Apparently I have to go through the process as if applying for a license for the first time. It means the bribing fucker was right: I have to pay the fees, take the tests (both written and driving) and attend a seminar. Hmph. He's still a fucker for attempting to bribe me. But it would be so much easier if I just gave him the money. Huhuhuhu I'll need at least half a day to get all that done. Okay fine I will schedule that errand for next year.

I'm sorry I can't help it

2006-08-28T19:53:00.000+08:00

HahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahaha! Is that Big John?

Hahaha my turn!

I got it from the Stay Funny site.

A long August

2006-08-26T15:36:00.000+08:00

I've been really cranky of late. People have been extra annoying and none of my errands have been simple and quick.

This week alone has me all stressed out. Travelling on a Filipino passport is so complicated. Bastards, if the objective is to discourage people from leaving the country...IT'S WORKING. I'm too exhausted to muster even a tingle of excitement. And I LOVE going on trips. I really hope the worst is over for this stupid visa application, but the way things have been going for me lately, I wouldn't be surprised if more problems arise.

But there are things here that make you realize why people subject themselves to these stringent and sometimes humiliating procedures, only to become second class citizens elsewhere. We're trying to get away from each other.

I tried to get my license renewed earlier this week. I had all the documents with me, but the guy at the counter informed me that I needed to apply for a new license and ignored me when I asked why. The new license involved going to seminars, taking tests and attending lectures. Without batting an eyelash, he then said that he could sort everything out himself, save me a bit of time, and all I needed to do was pay him the fees. Which amounted to nearly 4 times the renewal fee. Sounded downright dodgy to me. The fucker was trying to bribe me and it was tempting. Hand him the cash, get my license. Sounds like a good idea. Quick and painless and I'd be free to run my other errands. No sweat. Sure, loads of people do it. Anything goes in Manila, that's what makes it so exciting. That and the unsafe wiring, but I'll save that for another entry.

I left. I'll just have to find someone who will do things properly and process me a license renewal, what I actually need.

The thing is, I like to complain about how corrupt government institutions can be sometimes, how corrupt some politicians are and how corrupt some cops are. But if I had agreed to do things that fucker's way, that would have made me corrupt as well. And after having done that, continuing to speak against the wrongs in Philippine society will just make me what a lot of people these days are: a hypocrite.

Stop cutting corners assholes! No wonder it's so hard to get into other countries. People don't want us contaminating them with our indecent ways. Be selfish cunts if you must, but please leave the rest of us out of it, because you're dragging us down with your baseness!

Huhu chrismiss is not merry. This is going to be a full blown rant if I don't end this post now. I know what I need, I need a nap. Because naps are gooooood.

Waywards

2006-08-24T00:08:00.000+08:00

The britbrats are coming back to Manila tomorrow. It's been three weeks since they took the ferry to Palawan. I think. Well something like that. Anyway, they're coming back from Bohol now. I suppose they're ferrying back since they were already very poor when they set off in the first place. While they were away, I texted them every couple of days just to check on them, so I knew that they were still alive and hadn't drowned or had anything untoward happen to them, like get eaten or rammed in the head by bamboo floaters of fishing boats. I'm pretty much their caretaker here and while I don't want to be overprotective, I feel somewhat responsible for their well-being while they're here. For some reason, Char knows when I'm particularly apprehensive about certain decisions they make and subtly takes the piss every so often. To be fair, we're kind of fun-mean to each other, I think that's why we get along so well. It's a bit wrong, but we both enjoy ourselves too much when I pretend to be her maid when we're going around malls and other crowded places. Hehe it's fun, especially when she pretends to scold me and I walked behind her apologizing in broken English. You should see the scandalized looks people give us! Evil white girl mistreating her brown slave. PRICELESS!

So anyway, she texted me early this morning. Messages in Tagalog.

Babalik ako sa manila bukas! May sa bohol ako. Tatawag ako. Sige.
(I'm returning to Manila tomorrow! There is in Bohol me. I will ring. Okay.)

Not bad, actually, I replied to her first message saying I was suitably impressed. But she doesn't mention Oli so I inquired about him. My heart skipped a beat when I read this second one, but I've since recovered and think I find it funny now.

O, namatay ho yata siya malapit dito, pagsisisid :( huwag ko malaman. Huwag kang balisa naiintindihan ko ho. hah.
(Yea, he died near here, diving :( don't me to know. Don't be ??? I understand. Hah.)

I really hope I see Oli alive and in one piece tomorrow.

Oh and does anyone know what balisa means? Is it 'troubled'?

Morans

2006-08-18T19:08:00.000+08:00

HahahahahaahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahahahaha

Planets

2006-08-18T13:51:00.000+08:00

That's not what I was taught!

I found this distressing piece of news here.

That's enough news for today.

Got the sehr gut

2006-08-17T16:05:00.000+08:00

Haha! I'm lovely. I DID get the sehr gut (explained in the last bit of this entry). Hah I had nothing to worry about after all.

This morning, I set off from home earlier than usual so I could go over to the german institute before work and enroll myself in the next class. Well not much earlier, I had about 20 minutes to spare since it took me awhile to get up, I was really sleepy from a late night and had to snooze my alarm 3 times before reluctantly getting out of bed. I'm known to be a big zombie in the mornings and I've gotten used to giving myself enough time to wake up properly. Otherwise my brain will refuse to be functional for the rest of the day.

Anyway, like I said, I had 20 minutes to enroll and then walk and get to work on time. Everyone seemed to be moving extra slowly, as they usually do when you're in a rush, as if deliberately trying my patience. My semi-stalker (SS) was there checking out the film collection with his back to the entrance, the counter I was meant to go to was next to him. So there I was standing in line, trying to remain unnoticed but the guard was being really solicitous and had me sign in and asked me what my name was and what I needed. Not wanting to announce my presence to SS, I mumbled in response. Mr Guard asked me to repeat myself. I did. He then asked me to speak up. Ugh. Finally SS turned round and said hello how are you and we small-talked. He's nice, but I was in a hurry. There was another student ahead of me in the queue who was going about his enrollment in a dilatory manner, and I was on the verge of bellowing MOVE IT, BITCH but then he finally pocketed his receipt and shuffled off. How lucky he was mwaha.

So it was my turn. I was trying to speed through the process but the girls behind the counter were having fun and a lot of girly tittering was going on. I appreciated that as much as I could, half-giggling and looking at my phone clock at the same time. The nice lady finally got my student card out and chattered away in German. I tried to follow as much as I could, replying in English when I did understand her.

"Hi I'm here to enroll in German 5 but I was wondering if I passed the final exam?"

"Sie haben (this bit was too fast)."

"Sorry huh? What did I get?"

"Hey you should be speaking in German, you're in level 5 now."

"I know I know."

"You got a 1. Sehr gut."

"A 1? Are you sure?" (incredulous)

"Ja. Sie sind Chris --, Deutsch 4?"

"Yes yes that's me. I got a sehr gut?"

"Yes you did. Now speak german."

And with my imperfect tongue, I butchered the damn language.

Going home

2006-08-16T12:12:00.000+08:00

Israeli troops have started moving out of Southern Lebanon. Yay.

Weather update: Another rainy week

2006-08-15T12:47:00.000+08:00

How depressing. Just when I thought we were going to get at least three days of sunshine, Katring comes round.

GALE WARNING NO. 10
For Strong Winds Associated with the Southwest Monsoon
Issued at 5:00 a.m., Today, 15 AUGUST 2006
THE SURGE OF STRONG WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SOUTHWEST MONSOON IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE WESTERN SEABOARDS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LUZON AND THE WESTERN SEABOARD OF VISAYAS. THE SEABOARDS OF MINDORO AND SCARBOROUGH AND THE WESTERN AND EASTERN SEABOARDS OF VISAYAS WILL EXPERIENCE MONSOON RAINS. WHILE THE WESTERN AND EASTERN SEABOARDS OF MINDANAO WILL HAVE ISOLATED RAINSHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS. WINDS OF 40 TO 65 KPH (22 TO 35 KNOTS) ARE EXPECTED AND SEA CONDITIONS WILL BE ROUGH TO VERY ROUGH WITH WAVE HEIGHTS OF 2.5 TO 5.0 METERS.

FISHING BOATS AND OTHER SMALL SEACRAFTS ARE ADVISED NOT TO VENTURE OUT INTO THE SEA WHILE BIGGER SEACRAFTS ARE ALERTED AGAINST MODERATE TO HIGH WAVES. WATCH FOR THE NEXT UPDATE TO BE ISSUED AT 5:00 PM TODAY

From PAGASA as usual.